Zubair Qureshi
The Pakistan government and the people value their relations with Azerbaijan as both countries share similar history, values and culture.
These views were expressed by Deputy Chairman Senate Mirza Muhammad Afridi while addressing a ceremony marking completion of the 30 years of diplomatic relations between Azerbaijan and Pakistan.
A picture exhibition depicting journey of bilateral relations was highlight of the event. Ambassador of Azerbaijan Khazar Farhadov was the chief guest on the occasin while former Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gillani, Deputy Speaker National Assembly Zahid Akram Durrani, parliamentarians and officials from the two sides attended the event. This (30th anniversary) is a landmark achieved in the bilateral relations of the two countries, said Mirza Afridi adding the diplomatic ties would further strengthen in coming days.Deputy Chairman was of the view that Pakistan wanted long-term partnership with Azerbaijan particularly in natural resources, defence and agriculture. He also mentioned Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev’s vision of regional peace and prosperity and his special fondness for strengthening bilateral ties with Pakistan. This is something we highly regard, he said.
Ambassador Farhadov thanked the Deputy Chairman for hosting the event. Azerbaijan he said considered Pakistan a time-tested friend and both the countries had unanimity of views on many international issues. We look forward to further exploring cooperation in trade, tourism, defence, agriculture, energy and IT sectors with Pakistan, he said adding initiation of direct flights between Baku-Lahore, Baku-Karachi and recently Baku-Islamabad are part of these efforts.
