Azernews.Az

By Sara Rajabova

India attaches importance to developing its cooperation with Azerbaijan across all fields, Foreign Minister Salman Khurshid said at a meeting with his Azerbaijani counterpart Elmar Mammadyarov, who is on an official visit to India.

During the meeting, Khurshid said that the visit would contribute to future development of bilateral relations.

Khurshid pointed out that by achieving dynamic economic development and increasing its influence in international affairs, Azerbaijan is also a significant country for Asia.

He said India sees Azerbaijan as a gateway to the West.

In turn, Mammadyarov voiced Azerbaijan's interest to cooperate with India in areas such as trade, energy, information and communication technologies and air transport.

He noted the need to strengthen legal framework for cooperation, which would give a boost to bilateral cooperation.

Speaking about the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan, Mammadyarov said that Armenia continues its policy of aggression, does not fulfill the UN Security Council resolutions adopted on the conflict and refuses to withdraw its armed forces from the occupied territories of Azerbaijan.

The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict emerged in 1988 as a result of Armenia's unfair territorial claims against Azerbaijan. Unleashing a lengthy war with its South Caucasus neighbor, Armenia occupied Nagorno-Karabakh and seven adjacent regions. Peace talks brokered by OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs representing the United States, Russia and France have been largely fruitless so far.

The sides also discussed issues on the international agenda and exchanged views on the cooperation in international organizations.

The sides inked Protocol on Cooperation between the Foreign Ministries of Azerbaijan and India.

The Azerbaijani Foreign Minister will wrap up his visit to India and Sri Lanka on May 8.