Islamuddin Sajid
13 January 2021•Update: 13 January 2021
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan
Azerbaijan's Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov on Wednesday arrived on his two-day official visit to Pakistan.
According to Pakistan Foreign Ministry, This is the first bilateral visit from Azerbaijan at the foreign minister-level in over a decade.
Upon arrival, Pakistan's Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi warmly welcomed Bayramov at the Foreign Ministry in the capital Islamabad.
Later the two foreign ministers hold delegation-level talks and discussed the entire gamut of bilateral relations and exchange views on regional and international issues, Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
Both sides agreed to enhance cooperation in all filed including trade, agriculture, education, science, and technology.
Qureshi also congratulated Bayramov on his country's victory to liberated their key territories from the Armenian occupation.
While Bayramov thanked Qureshi for Pakistan's consistent support to his country over the Nagorno-Karabakh dispute.
Bayramov will also participate in the second trilateral meeting between Pakistan, Turkey, and Azerbaijan. Turkey's Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu already arrived for the meeting late Tuesday.
Karabakh dispute
Relations between the former Soviet republics have been tense since 1991, when the Armenian military occupied Nagorno-Karabakh, internationally recognized as Azerbaijani territory, and seven adjacent regions.
When new clashes erupted on Sept. 27, 2020, the Armenian army launched attacks on civilians and Azerbaijani forces and even violated humanitarian cease-fire agreements.
During the 44-day conflict, Azerbaijan liberated several cities and nearly 300 settlements and villages, while at least 2,802 of its soldiers were martyred. There are differing claims about the number of casualties on the Armenian side, which, sources and officials say, could be up to 5,000.
The two countries signed a Russian-brokered agreement on Nov. 10 to end fighting and work toward a comprehensive resolution.
A joint Turkish-Russian center is being established to monitor the truce. Russian peacekeeping troops have also been deployed in the region.
The cease-fire is seen as a victory for Azerbaijan and a defeat for Armenia, whose armed forces have withdrawn in line with the agreement. Violations, however, have been reported in the past few weeks, with some Armenian soldiers said to have been hiding in the mountainous enclave.
