UPDATE - Azerbaijani president, Pakistani premier discuss wide range of bilateral cooperation

UPDATES WITH STATEMENT FROM PAKISTAN’S PRIME MINISTER’S OFFICE; REVISES HEADLINE, DECK, LEDE; MINOR EDITS

By Aamir Latif

KARACHI, Pakistan (AA) - Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif met with Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev on Thursday to discuss ways of enhancing cooperation in a variety of fields, mainly energy.

Azerbaijan has agreed to provide liquefied natural gas (LNG) to Pakistan at discounted price from next month, a statement from Pakistan's Prime Minister's Office said on Thursday.

The understanding was reached in a meeting between Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz with President Ilham Aliyev at the Presidential Palace in Baku on Thursday during the former's maiden visit to Azerbaijan.

It was also decided that Baku will help Islamabad in the fields of oil and gas, aside from investing in Pakistan's solar energy industry, the statement added.

Azerbaijan's state-run Azerbaijan Airlines will operate two weekly flights to and from Pakistan, it went on to say.

The two leaders also agreed to boost cooperation in the trade, business, defense, security, energy and other sectors.

Earlier, Sharif was presented with a guard of honor upon his arrival at the Presidential Palace.

Sharif, who arrived in Baku late Wednesday on a two-day trip, visited the tomb of the founder of the modern and independent Azerbaijani state Heydar Aliyev.

He laid a wreath at the tomb and paid tribute to Aliyev.

Sharif's elder brother, Nawaz Sharif was the last Pakistani Prime Minister to visit Baku in 2016. In 2019, President Arif Alvi also visited Azerbaijan.

- Cooperation

Addressing a joint press conference after the delegation-level meeting, Aliyev said the two countries will sign various memorandums of understanding, for the promotion of trade and business, apart from preparing a list of preferential trade items.

Sharif, for his part, said that there is great scope for cooperation between the two sides in the field of energy and petroleum products, state-run Pakistan Television reported.

Sharif said Baku has always been a supporter of the "Kashmiri brothers and sisters.”

He said Islamabad will continue to support Baku's efforts aimed at protecting its territorial integrity.

Aliyev thanked Pakistan for its support for his country’s territorial integrity.

“I expressed gratitude to Mr. Prime Minister (Shehbaz Sharif) for supporting Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity during the times of occupation, during the Second Karabakh War and after we restored our territorial integrity,” Aliyev said ahead of an expanded meeting with Sharif in the Azerbaijani capital Baku, according to a statement by the Azerbaijani presidency.

He said that Azerbaijan strongly supports Pakistan on the issue of Kashmir, adding that Baku will openly support and continue to support Islamabad on the matter within the framework of international institutions.

Aliyev further said that he and Sharif discussed a broad agenda of Azerbaijani-Pakistani relations in an earlier one-on-one meeting, saying that they broadly addressed issues regarding trade and economic cooperation, energy, transportation, and defense industry.

- Bilateral ties

Diplomatic relations between Pakistan and Azerbaijan were established in 1992.

Pakistan was the second country that recognized Azerbaijan after its independence in 1991.

The two countries have increased trade and security cooperation in recent years, with Islamabad backing Baku over its longstanding Karabakh dispute with Armenia.

Pakistan has no diplomatic relations with Armenia because of the Karabakh issue. In return, Baku supports Islamabad on the lingering Kashmir dispute.

The two countries have increased trade and security cooperation in recent years.

Sharif's visit came on the heels of a crucial energy agreement signed earlier this week between the two sides to meet Islamabad's growing energy demands.

Pakistan's Petroleum Minister Musadik Malik said Tuesday that Baku will supply an LNG cargo every month to Pakistan at a “cheaper price.”

He, however, did not divulge further details.

Running short of foreign reserves, Islamabad has been struggling to procure LNG following a spike in global prices since the beginning of the Russia-Ukraine war last year.

*Burc Eruygur in Istanbul contributed to this story.