WNAM REPORT: Pakistan and Azerbaijan on Monday agreed to expand cooperation in trade, commerce, security, and energy, with the two countries announcing they would ink agreements worth $2 billion in the coming April.
Speaking at a joint press conference, visiting Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev pledged to capitalize 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 2024.
Meanwhile, the two sides signed several agreements and memoranda of understanding (MoUs) in trade, commerce, defense production, energy, climate change, tourism, culture, education, and other areas.
Sharif, on the occasion, said the two countries will formally sign separate agreements totaling $2 billion in the aforementioned fields in April in Islamabad, Pakistan’s capital.
The premier reiterated Islamabad’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 the “time has come” for the establishment of an independent Palestine state with Jerusalem as its capital.
Aliyev, for his part, observed that the two countries want to strengthen economic and trade ties with Islamabad, which is an “important” aspect of Azerbaijan’s foreign policy.
The three allies (Türkiye, 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 organized 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, defense, education, and climate sectors.
