Speaker of the Milli Majlis Sahiba Gafarova has had a meeting with Speaker of the Council of Representatives of the Kingdom of Bahrain Ahmad bin Salman Al-Musalam who had arrived in our country to take part in the 14^th Plenary Session of the Asian Parliamentary Assembly held in Baku.

Saying she was glad to welcome the guest at the Milli Majlis, Speaker Sahiba Gafarova remarked that the common religious and cultural values of our nations contributed positively to the progress of the relations between our countries; our countries have successful co-operation afoot in several areas, it was added.

Having declared his confidence that the 14^th Plenary Session of the Asian Parliamentary Assembly would be hosted successfully in Baku, Speaker of the Council of Representatives of the Kingdom of Bahrain Ahmad bin Salman Al-Musalam described this Organisation as a good co-operation platform.

The Speaker of the Council of Representatives of the Kingdom of Bahrain offered the congratulations addressed to President Ilham Aliyev upon his victory in the extraordinary presidential elections of 7 February and re-election as President of the Republic of Azerbaijan. His country, Mr Al-Musalam remarked, was interested in broadening further the links with Azerbaijan in all the areas.

The Head of the Parliament of Azerbaijan voiced her appreciation of the congratulations before commenting upon the significance of the election in question in the statehood history of our country. She said that Azerbaijan would continue fulfilling her agenda with success under the leadership of President Ilham Aliyev.

The presence of fruitful co-operation bonds of Azerbaijan and Bahrain in such international organisations as the UN, the Organisation of Islamic Co-operation and the Non-Aligned Movement were mentioned at the meeting. The Speaker of the Council of Representatives referred to the successful chairmanship of Azerbaijan in the Non-Aligned Movement and emphasised that the Azerbaijani presidency had played a tremendous role in the advancement of that Organisation.

Speaker Sahiba Gafarova described the establishment of the Parliamentary Network of the Non-Aligned Movement at the initiative of the President of Azerbaijan as our country’s yet another input to global co-operation, saying then that Parliamentary Network was a significant platform with which to promote inter-legislature co-operation. She also witnessed her appreciation of the active involvement of the Kingdom of Bahrain in the work of the Organisation.

As the meeting progressed, there was also an exchange of opinions about the relations between the legislatures of our countries. It was said that there was a sound potential to deepen the relevant connexions further; amongst other things, they reviewed co-operation opportunities for the parliamentary committees to seize.

The Press and Public Relations Department
The Milli Majlis