Chair of the Milli Majlis Sahiba Gafarova had a conversation on 17 May with Chairman of the National Assembly of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan Raja Pervaiz Ashraf who had arrived in Azerbaijan for the Third General Conference of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Economic Co-operation Organisation.

The leader of the Azerbaijani legislature followed her sincere welcome to Mr Ashraf up with a commentary about the common religious and cultural values as a solid foundation for the Azerbaijani-Pakistani amity and fraternity. Our diplomatic relations are turning thirty years next month; the relationship has covered a path of success and progress throughout those years, according to Mrs Gafarova.

Azerbaijan and Pakistan keep up close co-operation in international and regional organisations whilst the interaction between their parliaments is contributing outstandingly to the onward motion of the inter-state relations. Speaking of which, a very efficient kind of collaboration is built up between our legislatures, Sahiba Gafarova was saying before recalling fondly her visit to Pakistan and the first trilateral meeting of the parliamentary speakers of Azerbaijan, Turkey and Pakistan in Baku last year. Such occurrences and encounters fasten the co-operation between our countries and their legislative assemblies, Mrs Gafarova summed up.

Azerbaijan’s remarkable victory in the 44 days’ Patriotic War and the new situation established in the region with the settlement of the bygone conflict were talked of as well. The Chair of the Milli Majlis emphasised the unfailing Pakistani support to Azerbaijan in the vivid manifestation of true brotherhood both throughout the thirty decades of the illth inflicted by the occupation of the Azerbaijani lands by Armenia and during the Patriotic War. Right now, then, Azerbaijan is busy carrying out large-scale operations to restore and rebuild its lands delivered from that captivity.

Chairman of the National Assembly of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan Raja Pervaiz Ashraf thanked for the generous hospitality extended to him as well as for the invitation to join the conference. He then described Azerbaijan as a dependable friend and a state brotherly to Pakistan, saying that Pakistan attaches special importance to furthering the relations with Azerbaijan and saying that his first abroad trip as speaker of the Pakistani parliament had been taken to nowhere but Azerbaijan. The rapid progress of Azerbaijan deserves all the praise while the capital of the country – Baku – is one of the most beautiful cities in the world, in the opinion of Mr Ashraf.

Mr Ashraf also congratulated the Milli Majlis on the high standards set by it in arranging the PAECO Third General Conference.

The tremendous role of parliamentary diplomacy in international relations, the keenness of the National Assembly of Pakistan on promoting its relations with the Milli Majlis of Azerbaijan and the importance of interacting, bilaterally as well as under the aegis of international organisations, were touched upon then.

Other subjects arousing both sides’ interest were discussed, too, as the conversation went on.

The Press and Public Relations Department
The Milli Majlis