Pakistan, Azerbaijan agree to expand security, trade collaboration

Pakistan and Azerbaijan agreed on Monday to expand cooperation in trade, commerce, security and energy, with the two countries announcing that they would sign agreements worth $2 billion in April, Anadolu has reported.

Speaking at a joint press conference, visiting Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev pledged to capitalise on “immense” opportunities for trade and commerce cooperation, as well as exploiting opportunities in regional communication and forums.

Sharif, who is on a two-day official visit to Azerbaijan, arrived in the capital, Baku, on Sunday evening with a high-level delegation that included Deputy Prime Minister Mohammad Ishaq Dar and other key Cabinet members. This is Sharif’s second visit to Azerbaijan since taking office in March last year.

The two sides signed several agreements and memoranda of understanding (MoUs) in trade, commerce, defence production, energy, climate change, tourism, culture, education and other sectors.

Sharif said that the two countries will formally sign separate agreements totalling $2bn in the aforementioned fields in April in Islamabad. The premier reiterated his country’s long-standing support for Baku on Nagorno-Karabakh and thanked Azerbaijan for supporting Pakistan’s stance on the Kashmir dispute.

Commenting on the current Middle East situation, the Pakistani prime minister called for a permanent ceasefire in Gaza, saying that the “time has come” for the establishment of an independent State of Palestine with Jerusalem as its capital.

Aliyev observed that his country wants to strengthen economic and trade ties with Islamabad, which is an “important” aspect of Azerbaijan’s foreign policy.

The three allies Turkiye, Azerbaijan and Pakistan, he said, take a joint stance on several regional and international issues.

During his visit, Sharif is also scheduled to attend a business forum organised in collaboration with the Export and Investment Promotion Agency of the Republic of Azerbaijan.

According to a statement from Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry, the two sides will hold extensive discussions on issues of mutual interest in order to strengthen bilateral cooperation, particularly in the energy, trade, defence, education and climate sectors.

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