On 20 February, the Speaker of the Milli Majlis, Sahiba Gafarova, met with a parliamentary delegation led by the Chairman of the Senate of Pakistan, Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani, who is visiting the country to participate in the 15^th Plenary Session of the Asian Parliamentary Assembly.

It was pointed out in the course of the conversation that this visit, along with the close political ties between the two countries, is yet another manifestation of the friendship and brotherhood between Azerbaijan and Pakistan. The strategic relations between Azerbaijan and Pakistan are built on the principles of friendship and brotherhood and continue to develop progressively across all the areas.

Speaker of the Milli Majlis Sahiba Gafarova talked of the special role of high-status visits in promoting the relations between the two countries; as she did, she underscored the significance of the visits of President Ilham Aliyev to Pakistan, of the Pakistani and Azerbaijani PMs’ trips and of the documents signed so far.

During the conversation, it was also said that co-operation between the parliaments of both countries plays an important and beneficial role in the development of interstate relations. A highly effective partnership has been established between the legislative bodies, and the parliaments closely co-operate within various international organisations. The trilateral co-operation between the parliaments of Azerbaijan, Pakistan, and Turkey was highlighted as one of the achievements of these strategically allied nations.

As the conversation continued, Speaker Sahiba Gafarova told the guests of the work done by the Non-Aligned Movement’s Parliamentary Network established upon the instance of President Aliyev, the work carried out during the Azerbaijani chairmanship to ensure the entity’s institutional growth, the progress of the peace process with Armenia and the biased attitude of certain European institutions and countries towards Azerbaijan after Azerbaijan had restored her sovereignty and territorial wholeness.

Speaker of the Senate of Pakistan Sayed Yusuf Reza Gilani expressed his gratitude for the hospitality and the exalted organisational standards of the 15^th plenary session of the Asian Parliamentary Assembly before remarking that this was his first ever visit to Azerbaijan. What else he said was that Pakistan and Azerbaijan are fraternal nations that consistently support each other, with their peoples sharing common values. Pakistan is one of the few countries that have not established diplomatic relations with Armenia. Since the establishment of diplomatic ties between Pakistan and Azerbaijan in 1992, high-level relations have developed across all areas including the robust co-operation of their parliaments.

The Islamic Republic of Pakistan consistently supports Azerbaijan’s just position on issues of concern to the Azerbaijani people, doing so both in bilateral and multilateral formats. The Azerbaijani people highly appreciate Pakistan’s support for their country’s fair stance, which is based on international legal norms and principles. In turn, Azerbaijan has always demonstrated its support for Pakistan, as was noted during the discussion.

Other matters of common interest were talked over at the meeting as well.

The Press and Public Relations Department
The Milli Majlis