Afghan president: Azerbaijan made great strides under President Aliyev

Azerbaijan has made great strides under the leadership of President Ilham Aliyev, said Afghan President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani.

The president made the remark as he received credentials of Azerbaijani Ambassador Hasan Zeynalov, Azertac reported.

Zeynalov conveyed sincere greetings of President Aliyev to the Afghan leader. The ambassador noted that Azerbaijan attaches special importance to developing relations with Afghanistan, saying he will spare no efforts to contribute to the further expansion of these ties.

The envoy further noted that there is a great potential for the establishment of mutually beneficial cooperation between Azerbaijan and Afghanistan, adding the commissioning of Lapis Lazuli Transit, Trade & Transport Route, which will cross the regional countries, will give a serious impetus to the expansion of the cooperation.

Zeynalov stressed that the two countries enjoy successful cooperation within the United Nations, Organization of Islamic Cooperation and Economic Cooperation Organization.

Touching upon the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, Zeynalov thanked Afghanistan for supporting Azerbaijan`s fair stance.

The Afghan president asked the ambassador to extend his greetings to President Aliyev, further emphasizing that his country attaches special importance to expanding ties with Azerbaijan.

President Ashraf Ghani noted that they have always supported Azerbaijan`s fair position on the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, adding the conflict should be solved only on the basis of Azerbaijan`s territorial integrity.

The president expressed his confidence that Zeynalov will contribute to the development of Azerbaijan-Afghanistan relations.

Azerbaijan, as a reliable partner of NATO and friend of brotherly Afghanistan, is committed to continue its significant contribution to the Resolute Support Mission beyond 2016 by providing troops, multimodal transit, training and financial assistance.

The country has several times made substantial donations to the Afghan National Army (ANA) Trust Fund. Moreover, Azerbaijan supports Afghanistan on its path of reforms towards integrating into regional and global economy.