ISLAMABAD: Pakistan and Azerbaijan affirmed the other day their commitment to further expanding mutually beneficial cooperation in the areas of bilateral interest, especially energy, trade, connectivity, defence and people-to-people linkage.
At a meeting between President Asif Ali Zardari and visiting President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev at the presidency on Friday, President Zardari said both countries had excellent relations and great scope for even better ties in various areas of mutual interest.
This is when the Azeri president said Pakistan and Azerbaijan could also explore the possibility of working together in the renewable energy sector.
He emphasized more regular engagements between the people and businessmen of Pakistan and Azerbaijan to cement bilateral ties, highlighting the importance of Gwadar Port and suggesting that other Central Asian countries besides Azerbaijan could benefit from it to promote regional trade, connectivity and tourism, besides bringing shared economic prosperity to the region.
Speaking on the occasion, President Ilham Aliyev said Pakistan and Azerbaijan enjoyed a high frequency of people-to-people exchanges and both countries needed to promote business-to-business relations for even better economic relations.
Later, the Pakistani president hosted a banquet in honour of President Ilham Aliyev and his delegation, which was also attended by Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif, federal ministers, parliamentarians, diplomats, and journalists, at the Presidency. ‑‑APP
