Welcoming the ambassador of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan to our country Amanullah Jaihoon at the meeting on 15 January, Chair of the Milli Majlis Sahiba Gafarova wished him success in his work and said she hoped that Mr Jaihoon as an envoy of Afghanistan in Azerbaijan would spare no effort to strengthen the bilateral relations.

Afghanistan was one of the first states to recognise the independence of Azerbaijan, Mrs Gafarova recalled before saying that Azerbaijan was interested in deepening the bilateral relations in a number of areas, that the friendship of the two nations was rooted in ancient history and that the current relations were setting high standards.

The conversations that the two states’ leaders had during their mutual visits have ensured a qualitatively new level of the bilateral relations; in turn, the high-standard political dialogue is promoting the expansion of co-operation in other areas, in the opinion of Mrs Gafarova. The Afghani Embassy in Baku functions successfully. Incidentally, the Parliament of Azerbaijan passed a law on opening the Azerbaijani embassy in Kabul during the recent session with a view to deepening the relations between the two countries further. The esteemed president of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev signed the new law off on 13 January, Mr Gafarova informed Mr Jaihoon.

Madame Speaker mentioned as she was talking about the positive roles of the two parliaments in the advancement of the bilateral ties the working group of the Milli Majlis for the interparliamentary relations with Afghanistan. She also underscored the importance of the regular meetings of the two sides’ parliamentarians in terms of experience and information exchange, and stressed the need to organise exchanged visits after the pandemic ended.

Madame Speaker praised the stance of Afghanistan with regards to resolving the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict; she remarked that Afghanistan had always stated its point of view of Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity and its support for the just cause of our country openly. That support was made very clear during the hostilities in Highland Garabagh, too. Namely, Afghanistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs as well as the House of Elders and the House of the People of the National Assembly voiced their backing of the sovereignty and territorial wholeness of Azerbaijan.

Mrs Gafarova said she believed that the relations would continue and progress further in the future.

Thanking Mrs Gafarova for the heartfelt reception, Ambassador Amanullah Jaihoon, too, spoke of the ancient prehistory of the Azerbaijani-Afghani relations; he promised to do everything within his power as ambassador to intensify them. As regards the Azerbaijani Parliament having affirmed the decision about opening the embassy in Afghanistan, to Mr Jaihoon that came as a sign of the utmost importance that the Azerbaijani side are attaching to the friendship between the two countries.

Then, the visitor spoke of the work done in the Afghani Parliament, emphasised the pressing need to intensify the co-operation between the legislative bodies of the two countries and said that, in his opinion, broadening these ties on various platforms is bound to contribute materially to achieving the current goals.

Arranging periodical meetings of the two parliaments’ women members, the protection of women’s and children’s rights and intensifying the co-operation in sciences, education, culture and humanitarian affairs were brought up at the meeting, too. Besides, there was an exchange of opinions about other matters of shared interest.

The Press and Public Relations Department
The Milli Majlis