Azerbaijan–Pakistan relations

Farooq Leghari became the first president of Pakistan to visit Azerbaijan in 1995. A year later, Heydar Aliyev visited Islamabad. There were several meetings between Heydar Aliyev and prime-minister of Pakistan – Benazir Bhutto which ended with signing of 9 agreements, which were diplomatically important.[5]

The agreement on defense and military cooperation between countries was concluded in 2002. In the same year, another meeting between President Heydar Aliyev and Pervez Musharraf took place in Istanbul at the summit of the Economic Cooperation Organization.[6]

In September 2003, Azerbaijani Prime Minister Ilham Aliyev met with President of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, Pervez Musharraf. Both of them discussed international issues.

In the summer of 2004, Parviz Musharraf made an official visit to Azerbaijan.[7] In July 2003, Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf visited the Heydar Aliyev Foundation in Baku.

In the spring of 2005, President Ilham Aliyev visited Pakistan. During the two-day visit, the heads discussed the potential for establishing a partnership. Six agreements were signed in the field of information and communication, transport, aviation, cultural relations, finance and education.

In May 2006, the 9th ECO Summit was held in Baku, where the Prime Minister of Pakistan, Shaukat Aziz, took part too.[6]

In the summer of 2008, a delegation led by the Chairman of the Parliament of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, Muhammad Mian Soomro, and the delegation of the Standing Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate of Pakistan under the chairmanship of Mushakhid Hussein Saidi visited Baku.

In autumn 1995, the two countries signed an agreement on cooperation in the field of trade and economy and a protocol on the establishment of a joint commission at the state level. The meetings of the commission mentioned above are held every 2 years in the capital cities of both countries.

In 2005, a branch of the National Bank of Pakistan was opened in Baku.[8]

XIII Summit of Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) took place on March 1, 2017, in the capital of Pakistan – the city of Islamabad. President of the Republic of Azerbaijan – Ilham Aliyev also attended the Summit. At the meeting, the Prime Minister of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan – Mohammad Nawaz Sharif and the President of Azerbaijan – Ilham Aliyev came to a mutual agreement to import products of the military-industrial complex of Pakistan into Azerbaijan. Issues related to the defense industry[9] and economy were also discussed.[10]

In November 2017, the Pakistani Chamber of Commerce and Industry in the city of Karachi announced the desire of entrepreneurs to make a contribution into a free economic zone (FEZ) in the Azerbaijani village of Alyat. The main attention will be paid to the development of the pharmaceutical field.[11]

Since late 2017, the IRP has been negotiating with Azerbaijan noting the importance of the "North-South" transport corridor for future. This corridor can become a link in the railway transport of Azerbaijan, Iran and the Russian Federation.[12]

The average bilateral trade turnover between Azerbaijan and Pakistan was 7.3 million USD during the second half of 2018. However, both states have the intention to increase this number further in the next five years based on recently signed agreements. Due to Azerbaijan’s huge energy capacity (oil and gas) Pakistani side as oil importer country considers Azerbaijan as an important trade partner.[13] For achieving a further increase in trade, a special working group has been established between the Ministry of Economy of Azerbaijan and the Ministry of Trade of Pakistan on the development of bilateral investment cooperation. It is estimated that over the last decade, the Pakistani side has invested around 4.2 million USD in the economy of Azerbaijan.[14] Additionally, in the future, Pakistan could get upper hand in Azerbaijani domestic market by exporting sports goods, leather industry, pharmaceutical, energy, production of lightweight agriculture equipment.[15] According to statistics, trade turnover during the January to June 2018 amounted to 5.82 million USD. Furthermore, there are approximately more than 250 companies realizing the transactions worth of $4.2 million between Azerbaijan and Pakistan. In 2018, the total trade turnover between the mentioned countries was calculated 36 percent more than last year statistics.

According to the bilateral agreement between energy ministries of both Pakistan and Azerbaijan (dated to February 2017), Azerbaijan will export the number of oil and gas products, including furnace oil, petrol, diesel and liquefied natural gas (LNG) to Pakistan.[16]

During 2017, the total transactions between these two countries were estimated to be worth $7.34 million (which was 26.55 percent more compared to the same period of 2016). $ 5.7 million out of the total number was accounted for imports of Pakistani products by Azerbaijan according to the State Customs Committee of Azerbaijan.

The statistics of the State Customs Committee of Azerbaijan indicate that the trade turnover between Azerbaijan and Pakistan amounted to $8.34 million between January and September in 2018. Compared to the same period of 2017, there was overall 22.46 percent increase. In those transactions, the Pakistani side seemed to have current account surplus while Azerbaijan had a deficit in that manner.

The Pakistani government has also an agreement with Azerbaijan (on June 20, 2016) which aims to import electricity, crude and refined oil products, liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) and liquefied natural gas (LNG) from Azerbaijan.[17]

Pakistan is one of the owners of nuclear weapon and a state with high rates of development of the military industry. Regarding the issues of military cooperation between Azerbaijan and Pakistan, it is noted that it is possible to produce weapons for common purposes, as well as laying the foundations of military enterprises. On the other hand, Pakistan aims to strengthen its relations with Azerbaijan in the field of energy on the account of the lack of energy resources.[18]

Azerbaijan has approached Pakistan with wishes to further expand cooperation in fields of joint production of defence products^[9] during the meeting of Pakistan's Minister of Defence Productions with Azerbaijan's President.^[10]

In the winter of 2014, during the fifth meeting of the working group on military cooperation between Azerbaijan and Pakistan in the city of Islamabad, the countries signed an agreement on mutual military cooperation.

Over the past decade, Pakistani military experts trained about a hundred Azerbaijani military units.

Azerbaijan is holding talks with Pakistan to purchase JF-17 Thunder multirole fighter aircraft.^{[6] [7]} In October 2016 President Aliyev and PM Sharif confirmed plans to carry out joint military exercises.^[8] In 2019–2020, the mass production of JF-17 Block 3 fighters is scheduled. Azerbaijan is interested in purchasing Super Mushak[10] trainer aircraft.

Pakistan is one of few countries to recognize Khojaly massacre,[19] carried out by Armenia against Azerbaijani people, as a genocide.[20][21] Pakistan also supports Azerbaijan's side of the Nagorno Karabakh Conflict.[22] Whilst Azerbaijan also supports Pakistan's stance on Kashmir over India and recognises Kashmir as Pakistani Territory. President of Pakistan, Mamnoon Hussain affirmed Pakistan's military support to Azerbaijan saying it was fully ready to equip the Azerbaijani military and Azerbaijan confirmed it "stood with Pakistan on the Kashmir problem".[23]

In April 1993, a meeting of the Security Council of the United Nations, led by Pakistan, was held. The resolution unanimously adopted resolution № 822 concerning the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.[24]

In addition, Pakistan is a member of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference[25] on Aggressive Measures[26] of the Republic of Armenia, directed against Azerbaijan.

Between 2012 and 2018 Heydar Aliyev Foundation on the basis of humanitarian cooperation aided to several local Pakistani social welfare institutions and charitable organizations such as Hamza Foundation, Khayber Eye Foundation. The Foundation also issued funds for the construction water supply scheme in Dera Ismail Khan District and arranged free treatment at different hospitals in Peshawar city. Moreover, the stipends of more than 30 deserving students of 12 Pakistani universities and the Rara Girls School are paid by the Heydar Aliyev Foundation. During the inauguration of the "20 January Martyrs Fountain" in Gujarkhan, Punjab province and 500 packages of blood were donated to the Thalassemia Center of Pakistan's Sweet Home (Bait-ul-Mal) organization.

On April 08, 2015, victims of flood disasters during the October month of 2014 in the rural areas of the various cities of Pakistan provided with humanitarian aids by Azerbaijan International Development Agency (AİDA).[27]

The relationship between Pakistan and Azerbaijan continues to develop in the religious and cultural spheres. There is a special branch of the language department at Baku State University specifically dedicated to the study of Urdu.

In the spring of 1996, the Joint Declaration on twinning of the Azerbaijani city of Ganja with the Pakistani city of Multan was adopted. In 2004, in the city of Islamabad, in two languages - English and Urdu, the book "On the works of the prominent Azerbaijani thinker Jalil Mammadguluzadeh" was published.[28]

In 2007, an earthquake occurred on the territory of Pakistan, in particular, in the city of Muzaffarabad. Azerbaijan, led by Ilham Aliyev, rendered assistance to the affected country by a material amount of one and a half million dollars. On the initiative of the chairman of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation, in the rural area of Rara, in the city of Muzaffarabad a construction of a secondary school on a modern model had begun. Its grand opening was held in February 2008. The Fund also allocated funds for the construction of a new block of the medical clinic of the Khyber Eye Foundation in Peshawar.

The authorized ambassador of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan in Azerbaijan is Said Khan Mohmand,[29] while the authorized ambassador of the Republic of Azerbaijan in Pakistan is Dashgin Shikarov.[30]

• Foreign relations of Azerbaijan
• Foreign relations of Pakistan
• Diplomatic relations

• Cemendtaur, A.H. (October 12, 2013). "A piece of Multan in Baku". The News. Archived from the original on July 2, 2017. Retrieved October 14, 2016.
• "New Page in Azerbaijan-Pakistan relations". AzerNews.az. October 18, 2016. Retrieved March 11, 2017.
• An official website of the Embassy of Pakistan in Azerbaijan
• An official website of a branch of the National Bank of Pakistan in Baku