Azerbaijan president kicks off 2-day Pakistan visit

By Aamir Latif

KARACHI, Pakistan (AA) – Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev arrived in Pakistan’s capital Islamabad on a two-day official visit on Thursday, state-run Pakistan Television reported.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif along with his Cabinet members received Aliyev at Nur Khan Airbase.

During the visit, Aliyev will meet with President Asif Ali Zardari, and Premier Sharif, said a statement from Pakistan’s Foreign ministry.

The two sides will engage in wide-ranging discussions on areas of mutual interest in order to further strengthen bilateral cooperation. Several agreements and memorandums of understanding are expected to be signed during the visit.

This is Aliyev’s second visit to Pakistan. He had visited the South Asian nuclear country in March 2017 to attend the 13th Summit of the Economic Cooperation Organization.

The diplomatic relations between the two countries were established on June 9, 1992.

Energy-starved Pakistan has recently struck an agreement with Baku for procurement of liquefied natural gas with two cargos already received.

The current trade volume between the two allies stands at $36.46 million.

The two sides are negotiating a Preferential Trade Agreement and a Transit Trade Agreement to boost bilateral trade.​​​​​​​