Azerbaijan offers greater support to Afghanistan
By Nigar Orujova
Azerbaijan is ready to continue supporting fraternal Afghanistan in developing transport, energy, and information and communication technologies.
This statement was made by Ashraf Shikhaliyev, the head of the Azerbaijan International Development Agency under the Foreign Ministry during a visit to Afghanistan, the Ministry reports.
Shikhaliyev said that the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway and new Baku International Sea Trade Port would create favorable opportunities for Afghanistan to enter world markets.
“This will revive and contribute to the sustainable development of the economy of Afghanistan,” he added.
Azerbaijan renders financial assistance to the Afghan National Army Trust Fund and plans to give scholarships to Afghan specialists and students for the development of human capital in Afghanistan, Shikhaliyev noted.
Holding of activities is aimed at promoting the economic cooperation of Afghanistan with neighboring countries and international financial institutions.
More than 70 countries, influential international organizations and heads of business organizations were represented at the events.
The president of Afghanistan, senior officials of the Afghan government and the UN Secretary General's Special Representative for Afghanistan attended these events.
Azerbaijan has shown continuous contribution and commitment to Afghanistan over the past 13 years.
Diplomatic relations between Azerbaijan and Afghanistan were established on November 16, 1994. The Azerbaijani ambassador to the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is the current acting ambassador to Afghanistan. The embassy of Afghanistan in Azerbaijan was opened in November, 2012.
Earlier this summer, a group of 40 Azerbaijani soldiers who are serving under the NATO-led “Resolute Support” noncombatant mission launched in Afghanistan begun in January 2015, left for Afghanistan on a rotating basis.
The peacekeeping contingent of Azerbaijani Armed Forces has been serving under the International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan since November 20, 2002.
Meanwhile, Afghanistan supports Azerbaijan’s position over the Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.
Armenia captured Nagorno-Karabakh and seven surrounding districts from Azerbaijan in a war that followed the Soviet breakup in 1991. More than 20,000 Azerbaijanis were killed and nearly 1 million were displaced as a result of the war.
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Nigar Orujova is AzerNews’s staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @o_nigar
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