PM: Islamabad seeks to have strong economic partnership with Azerbaijan
By Gunay Hasanova
Pakistan wishes to strengthen its relations with Azerbaijan in various fields, and translate the friendly bilateral relations into strong economic partnership, said Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif.
The Prime Minister made the remark as he received Azerbaijani Ambassador Ali Alizade on October 7.
The PM assured the ambassador of his government’s fullest cooperation and expressed the confidence that his service tenure in Pakistan would be successful and fruitful.
‘Our government focuses on regional connectivity through economic cooperation to help people of the region realize their true potential. Enhancement of trade and business relations between Azerbaijan, Pakistan and amongst other countries of the region is our topmost priority,” further said the Prime Minister.
The envoy, in turn, thanked the Prime Minister and expressed the confidence that bilateral relations between the two countries will improve with joint efforts of both the countries.
Pakistan became the second country after Turkey which recognized the independence of Azerbaijan in 1991. The diplomatic relations between two countries were established on June 9, 1992. Both countries have always supported each other in the international arena.
Pakistan supported Azerbaijan during and after the Nagorno-Karabakh War and it is the only country that does not recognize Armenia. Pakistan also adopted a resolution strongly condemning the genocide against the civilian population of Khojaly, which was committed by Armenian armed forces.
Trade and cooperation have steadily grown between the two nations in recent years, with several summits being held on how to improve trade between the two nations.
Although the countries enjoy very close friendly relations at a diplomatic level, these close ties have not been translated into significant commercial gains.
The trade turnover between Azerbaijan and Pakistan amounted to $1.8 million in the first quarter of 2016, according to the State Customs Committee of Azerbaijan.
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Gunay Hasanova is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @gunhasanova
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