Zubair Qureshi
Azerbaijan and Pakistan’s bilateral relations are at a high level in all fields, including military and defence cooperation and the recent visit of PM Shehbaz Sharif has proved instrumental in further strengthening these relations. Ambassador of Azerbaijan Khazar Farhadov expressed these views while addressing the 105th Anniversary of the Azerbaijan Armed Forces reception. Air Marshal Irfan Ahmed SI (M), Deputy Chief of Air Staff (Projects) was the chief guest on the occasion. A large number of guests, diplomats, defence attaches, members of civil society and parliamentarians attended the reception and congratulated both the Azerbaijan ambassador Khazar Farhadov and the Defence Attache Col Mehman Novruzov and the Azerbaijan nationals on the armed forces day of their country
“I want to especially highlight the recent visit of the Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to Baku. His visit will always be remembered as a successful, productive visit,” he said, adding a broad range of issues of bilateral agenda, including trade and investment, energy cooperation, defence industry, increasing the number of direct flights, and other important issues were discussed during the visit. The Azerbaijan Armed Forces Day reception was organized in a colourful way as the staff of the embassy as well as the Azerbaijan citizens were dressed in their national attire while the venue, Marriott Hotel’s hall was adorned with flags of Azerbaijan.
Azerbaijan ambassador Khazar Farhadov
Ambassador Khazar reiterated his faith in the capability, skills, professionalism and above all patriotism of his country’s armed forces and described them among the best forces of the world.
The ambassador said Azerbaijan entered a qualitatively new stage under the leadership of President and Supreme Commander-in-Chief Ilham Aliyev. “Thanks to his successful army-building policy, continuous steps were taken in the direction of increasing the professionalism of the military, increasing the fighting spirit and moral-psychological training of the personnel, and supplying our Armed Forces with the most modern weapons and equipment,” said the ambassador.
He specifically mentioned the 44-day Patriotic War of 2020 which resulted in the liberation of the Azerbaijan territories from the Armenian occupation by the brave Azerbaijani Army under the leadership of Supreme Commander-in-Chief Ilham Aliyev. Defence Attache Colonel Mehman Novruzov, Azerbaijan Defence Attaché to Pakistan in his speech said the people of Azerbaijan have upheld liberty and statehood and this passion they had been nurturing for centuries.
Defence Attache Col Mehman Novruzov
Because of the rich natural resources and strategic location, our motherland has always undergone pressures and military aggressions by strong states, he said. However, people and the armed forces of the country have always met these challenges bravely and foiled all such attempts of undermining their independence. He informed that after regaining independence, all state attributes of Azerbaijan, including Armed Forces were restored and on May 22, 1998, with the presidential decree, June 26 was declared as the Day of Azerbaijan Armed Forces.
Since its establishment on June 26, 1918, the Azerbaijan Armed Forces have faced many security challenges and demonstrated remarkable resilience, unwavering dedication, and a strong commitment to safeguarding security and territorial integrity of Azerbaijan, said Col Mehman.
