BAKU: Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has reached Baku on a three-day official visit to hold talks with Azerbaijan’s leadership focusing trade and investment.
Upon his arrival, the prime minister was accorded warm welcome as Azerbaijan’s Deputy Prime Minister Ali Akhmedov and other high government functionaries received him at the Baku international airport. The prime minister is paying his first visit to Azerbaijan on the invitation of President Ilham Aliyev. He is accompanied by a high-level delegation including his Special Assistant on Foreign Affairs Syed Tariq Fatemi.
During stay in Baku, the prime minister will hold talks with President Ilham Aliyev and Prime Minister Artur Rasizade on bilateral relations. Economic cooperation, including trade and investment, will be the key focus of their talks. They will also exchange views on regional and international issues of mutual interest, with particular attention to the situation in South Asia and Pakistan’s policy of peaceful neighbourhood.
A Joint Declaration is expected to be signed during the visit. The visit to Azerbaijan is reflective of the prime minister’s vision to enhance and strengthen Pakistan’s relations with the neighbouring and regional countries. Pakistan accords high priority to its deep historical and cultural bonds with the regional countries and is committed to expand cooperative relations with them.
Pakistan and Azerbaijan enjoy close relations, which are underpinned by commonalities of history, culture and faith. These ties are characterised by mutual respect, shared perceptions and common desire to promote peace, stability and development in the region. The mutual support on the Jammu Kashmir dispute and the Nagorno-Karabakh issue is a testimony to the close understanding between Pakistan and Azerbaijan.
The two countries also share common views on major regional and international issues and cooperate closely in the regional and multilateral forums, including the United Nations, the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation and the Economic Cooperation Organisation.
Pakistan was among the first few countries that recognised the independence of Azerbaijan in October 1991, established diplomatic relations and opened a resident mission in Baku.
