ISLAMABAD  -   Azerbaijan’s Defence Minister Colonel General Zakir Hasanov called on Chief of Army Staff General Qamar Javed Bajwa on Friday and praised Pakistan’s efforts for regional peace and stability.

According to the ISPR, matters of mutual interest, regional security and defence cooperation were discussed during the meeting.

On arrival at the GHQ, the ISPR said, the visiting dignitary laid a wreath at Yadgar-e-Shuhada. A smartly-turned out contingent of the Pakistan Army presented a guard of honour to the visiting dignitary.

Earlier, Zakir Hasanov met President Dr Arif Alvi at Aiwan-i- Sadr. Talking to the Azerbaijan minister, the president said Pakistan is a peaceful and sovereign country and desirous of good relations with all its neighbours.

“Pakistan believes in dialogue with all countries, including India, on all matters of mutual interest, but not at the cost of its territorial integrity,” Alvi said. He said that Pakistan would want all friendly countries to urge India to cooperate with Pakistan for peaceful resolution of the Kashmir dispute in accordance with the UNSC resolutions.

The president said that Pakistan highly valued its brotherly relations with Azerbaijan. He highlighted the tremendous bilateral goodwill and appreciated the participation of President Ilham Aliyev’s in the 13th ECO Summit held in Islamabad on March 1, 2017.

He appreciated Azerbaijan’s support to Pakistan’s candidature for the membership of OIC’s Independent Permanent Human Rights Commissioner (IPHRC).  Alvi stressed the need for enhancing the volume of bilateral trade and called for exploring possibilities of cooperation and trade in agriculture, manufacturing, services sector, ready-made garments, cotton products, engineering goods, consumer goods, pharmaceuticals, rice, textile, fabrics, sports goods, surgical instruments and tents.

The president said that liberalisation of the visa regime by Pakistan will increase the number of tourists and businessmen from Azerbaijan. He highlighted the potential for defence cooperation between the countries. He said Pakistan had heavily invested in border controls and facilitated legitimate travel of common people on Pak-Afghan border. He said the entire region needed to play its role in reconstruction and rebuilding of Afghanistan.

Azerbaijan’s defence minister said that bilateral relations between Pakistan and Azerbaijan are marked by continuity and that the two countries had always stood by each other. He said that frequent military trainings between armed forces of the two nations have served as an immense source of learning.

The president expressed immense pleasure to see Azerbaijan’s people participating in Pakistan Day celebrations. He extended invitation to President Ilham Aliyev to visit Pakistan.