Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif received a warm welcome as he arrived at the presidential palace to discuss a wide range of bilateral matters with the Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev.
PM Nawaz on Friday discussed a wide range of bilateral matters with President Ilham and stressed upon building strong economic and investment ties between the two countries.
In one-on-one meeting followed by delegation-level talks soon after his arrival at the sprawling Zagulba Palace, the Prime Minister expressed his desire to further translate the existing bonds of friendship and cooperation into new avenues of trade, investment and defence between the two countries.
In a joint press conference, President Aliyev thanked PM Nawaz on accepting his invitation to visit Azerbaijan and announced that Azerbaijan will hold mutual army exercises with Pakistan.
“Pakistan is our close friend and ally and both countries support each other on global forums,” he said, adding that cooperation would continue between the two countries in future.
“We want strong, friendly relations with Pakistan,” he said.
The Pakistan premier informed Azerbaijan president about his government’s energy infrastructure and power projects being completed under the 46 billion dollar flagship China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), which also offers immense investment potential for the investors from the Central Asian Republics (CARs).
Both sides reiterated their resolve to translate their close political relations into substantive cooperation in all fields particularly economy, trade, investment, energy and defence.
The Prime Minister appreciated Azerbaijan’s support to Pakistan on the Occupied Kashmir dispute.
“We believe that all the regional and global issues must be resolved through dialogue and peaceful means within the framework of international law,” he said in the joint press conference.
“However the courage to remain steadfast to the principles of peace must never be mistaken for weakness,” he stressed.
The Prime Minister observed that their bilateral trade currently did not commensurate with actual potential and needed to be revitalised.
He also lauded the socioeconomic development and progress of Azerbaijan under the dynamic leadership of Aliyev.