Azernews.Az

By Jamila Babayeva

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev received a delegation led by Foreign Minister of Afghanistan Zarar Ahmad Osmani on March 18.

Hailing friendly and partner relations between Azerbaijan and Afghanistan, President Aliyev stressed the importance of mutual support in international organizations.

President Aliyev underlined Azerbaijan`s peacekeeping activities in Afghanistan as a good signal of cooperation between the two countries. Touching upon the economic relations, the Head of State stressed the importance of determining new cooperation prospects.

Osmani conveyed greetings of Afghan President Hamid Karzai to the Head of State.

He said that the Afghan president hailed long-lasting successful cooperation with Azerbaijan.

They exchanged views over development of cooperation in different fields, particularly in economy, trade and investment.

President Aliyev asked Osmani to deliver his greetings to the Afghan president.

During his visit, Osmani also met with his Azerbaijani counterpart Elmar Mammadyarov.

Following the meeting the sides held a news briefing.

The sides discussed a wide range of issues on economic cooperation, including Afghanistan`s opportunities to use Baku-Tbilisi-Kars project, and transportation of goods from Afghanistan via this railway.

The sides also focused on education and energy cooperation issues.

Mammadyarov said the positions of Azerbaijan and Afghanistan in international organizations coincide on many issues.

"The two countries enjoy excellent political cooperation and Azerbaijan wants to develop relations with the fraternal nation. Kabul supports Baku`s position on the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict," he said.

The minister further said Afghanistan shows interest in expanding economic ties.

"In particular, Kabul actively shows interest in the project of the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway and wants to use the railway networks of Afghanistan in western direction. We do not exclude setting up a joint working group on this issue. Afghanistan sends its citizens for education at Azerbaijani universities. At the same time, the Afghan side is interested in attracting Azerbaijani investments," he noted.

The Afghan Foreign Minister , in turn, praised the outcomes of his negotiations in Baku.

"We are interested in cooperation with Azerbaijan to create a transport infrastructure, which would open the way for Afghanistan to Turkey and Georgia. We need to create an intergovernmental commission, which would build a good platform for the development of mutually beneficial cooperation between our countries," Osman said.