Chair of the Milli Majlis Sahiba Gafarova has had a meeting with President of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) Duarte Pacheco on 8 September in the course of her current working visit to Tashkent. Mrs Gafarova underlined at the conversation the immense importance that Azerbaijan attaches to her co-operation with the IPU and praised the IPU’s role in promotion of inter-parliamentary relations and global parliamentary diplomacy.

Azerbaijan is invariably an active member also always coming up with initiatives in the international organisations of which she is a member. For instance, as Chair of the  Non-Aligned Movement our state had suggested that the parliamentary dimension of the NAM should be developed and the NAM Parliamentary Network was incepted at the suggestion of the president of the country Ilham Aliyev in 2021, according to Mrs Gafarova. She proceeded to thank Duarte Pacheco for his attendance of the NAM PN institution meeting and his address to the Network’s first conference that had taken place in Baku.

That first conference of the PN went in the Azerbaijani capital on 30 June-1 July bringing together 40 national parliamentary delegations and representatives of 8 international parliamentary organisations. The Baku Declaration that was adopted at its conclusion reflects our common positions and views and, at the same time, was crucial in terms of the Network’s institutional sustenance, according to Mrs Gafarova who added that the NAM PN was prepared to contribute to the efforts to achieve the common goals and to resolve the universal concerns through interaction with the other parliamentary bodies in general and with the IPU in particular.

President of the Inter-Parliamentary Union Duarte Pacheco expressed his satisfaction with Azerbaijan being one of the more active IPU members and emphasised Azerbaijan’s remarkable stance within this organisation. He also updated Sahiba Gafarova on the IPU activity profile defined for the coming period and the jobs slated to be done.

Besides, Mr Pacheco remembered his previous arrivals in our country and how strongly he had been impressed by the multiculturalism norms of the Azerbaijani people.

It was said that it was necessary in our time to expand parliamentary diplomacy and co-operation amongst legislatures of various countries. It was further noted that the Inter-Parliamentary Union was ready for co-operation with the Parliamentary Network of the Non-Aligned Movement.

There was an exchange opinion about a number of issues and aspects of this bilateral interaction then.

The Press and Public Relations Department
The Milli Majlis