President Ilham Aliyev's visit to Pakistan further boosts bilateral ties between two states

By Dr Mehmood Ul Hassan Khan

During his visit to Islamabad, the capital of Pakistan, the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev, received a special reception that symbolized the unbreakable unity between the two countries.

President Ilham Aliyev's visit to Pakistan has great significance in terms of further strengthening of bilateral relations in diverse sectors of economy, investment, energy cooperation, oil & gas exploration, textile, tourism, and greater regional connectivity.

It seems that the two sides will engage in wide-ranging discussions on areas of mutual interest to further strengthen bilateral cooperation. Hopefully, several Agreements and MoUs are expected to be signed during the visit.

This visit vividly reflects the robust cooperation and leadership-level dialogue between the two countries.
Before his visit, the Deputy Foreign Minister of Azerbaijan, Samir Sharifov arrived in Pakistan and held meetings with different ministers including Energy (Power and Petroleum) ministers and called on Federal Minister for Commerce Jam Kamal Khan which demonstrated the government of Pakistan dedication to forging robust economic relations with other nations.

Undoubtedly, Pakistan attaches great importance to its relationship with Azerbaijan. Both sides should jointly work to advance their cooperation in various sectors including tourism, transport, energy security, and defense, though this requires additional efforts.

Moreover, finalization, operationalization, and channelization of an early conclusion of the Preferential Trade Agreement (PTA) and Bilateral Transit Trade Agreement (BTTA) is the need of the hour which would further streamline and systemize the bilateral relations between the two countries.

It is suggested that the ease of travel between the two countries, institutionalization of easy visa policy, cooperation in civil aviation, and last but not least business and people-to-people cooperation would bring the desired goals of greater socio-economic cooperation, banking & finance integration, trans-regional connectivity, energy & food cooperation and above all metals & mining and infrastructure development between two sides.

The two countries are taking measures to increase bilateral investment, especially in the energy sector. The two countries will also enhance parliamentary exchanges, strengthen cultural cooperation, and promote people-to-people contacts including between students, academia, businessmen, and tourists.

Pakistan’s Petroleum Minister Musadik Malik disclosed that Baku was considering investing US$2-3 billion in Pakistan. Aliyev’s current visit would boost economic cooperation between the two countries. His visit follows an inaugural Pakistan-Turkiye-Azerbaijan trilateral summit in Kazakhstan this month, which was attended by Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.

It is pertinent to mention that at the summit, Sharif proposed the establishment of tripartite institutional mechanisms in economic and investment areas to further strengthen cooperation among the three nations.

Additionally, Minister for Petroleum Musadik Malik said that Azerbaijan was considering an investment of US$2 to US$3 billion in Pakistan.

Azerbaijan was particularly interested in investing in the mineral, oil, and gas sectors. It was focusing on the oil and gas exploration sector and the country was keen to expand investments in the Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) sector as well.

It is predicted that the current visit of Azerbaijan Ilham will further boost bilateral ties between the countries and areas of increasing textile exports and promoting the IT sector between the two countries will also be discussed. Simply, it would be a big investment push for the government of Pakistan.

It is also hoped that discussions on regional security, peace, and stability especially bilateral military cooperation, joint drills, training, and joint ventures in defense production in terms of 5th generation fighter jets, missile technologies, drones, surveillance mechanisms, and light arms may also be included and further strengthened.