PM discusses bilateral ties with Azeri President

ASTANA: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Wednesday met the President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev and discussed the bilateral relations and ways to further enhance the mutual cooperation.

The meeting took place on the sidelines of the 6th Summit of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia (CICA) being held in the Kazakh capital.

The two sides renewed their commitment to intensify and deepen bilateral engagement in diverse areas of mutually beneficial cooperation. Both leaders reviewed the progress of various ongoing initiatives for promoting connectivity, trade and investment.

During the meeting, the prime minister underlined the need for fostering close cooperation between the two countries in the field of energy, which was a high-priority area for his government.

PM Shehbaz Sharif told the Azeri president that he had nominated the Minister of State for Petroleum as the focal point for bilateral energy cooperation between Azerbaijan and Pakistan who visited Baku last month.

He also proposed leadership-level consultations in Islamabad aimed at advancing regional connectivity. Both leaders reviewed the close and cordial bilateral ties with a view to further enhance cooperation in the areas of trade, investment, education, information technology, security, agriculture, connectivity and energy.

The prime minister also briefed President Aliyev on his government’s efforts to rehabilitate flood-affected people in Pakistan and restore their livelihoods damaged by the unprecedented disaster.

He underscored that damage to crops and the inability to cultivate in the coming sowing season worsened the threat of food shortages in the country. He said the import of urea was essential to avert this looming threat and revive agricultural produce in the country. President Aliyev assured him of Azerbaijan’s full support in this raged.

Prime Minister Shehbaz appreciated Azerbaijan’s steadfast position on Jammu and Kashmir and its valuable role as a member of the OIC Contact Group on Jammu and Kashmir.

He reaffirmed Pakistan’s principled support to Azerbaijan on former Nagorno-Karabagh and appreciated President Ilham Aliyev’s endeavours for bringing long-term and sustainable peace in the South Caucasus.

This was the second interaction between the two leaders as earlier they met on the sidelines of SCO in September 2022 at Samarkand, Uzbekistan.

Earlier, the prime minister arrived in Astana on a two-day visit along with a delegation comprising members of the cabinet and senior officials. He would address the plenary meeting of CICA on October 13 where he will elaborate upon the significance of CICA as a unique forum for promoting interaction, understanding, and collaboration amongst countries across Asia to address common challenges.

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