By Seymur Mammadov
Last week, the 18th Summit of the Non-Aligned Movement concluded in Baku, bringing together the heads of state and government of 120 countries, 17 observer states and 10 international organizations in the capital of Azerbaijan. The fact of holding the summit in Baku, as well as the chairmanship of the Movement, which passed to Azerbaijan until 2022, is an obvious sign of recognition of the growing international role of Azerbaijan.
As a result of the summit in Baku, four major documents were adopted, in particular, a declaration according to which the parties pledged to intensify the organization’s role in accordance with the new geopolitical realities, as well as to increase the level of coordination so that the Movement would become a dynamic and effective mechanism to support member states.
But perhaps the most important for Azerbaijan was the memorandum of all participating countries that unanimously supported Azerbaijan on the Karabakh issue.
In one paragraph of the document, the heads of state and government emphasize the inadmissibility of the seizure of territories by force and confirm that no state recognizes the legitimacy of the situation that arose as a result of the occupation of the territories of the Republic of Azerbaijan and will not provide any assistance in maintaining such a situation, including economic activity in these territories.
Among other leaders, the President of Pakistan Arif Alvi also participated in the Summit.
During his speech, the President of Pakistan announced that his country would continue to support the Non-Aligned Movement during the chairmanship of the organization of Azerbaijan.
Developing his thought further, Arif Alvi said that “Pakistan unequivocally condemns the occupation and supports the struggle of the international community against terrorism.” This statement by the Pakistani leader is valuable and of great importance against the background of the ongoing occupation of 20 percent of Azerbaijani lands, including Nagorno-Karabakh from neighboring Armenia. President Alvi makes a similar statement in Baku, which has been undergoing injustice for years, both in the sense of occupying its lands, and in the context that the world community which is actually contributing to the status quo remaining around Nagorno-Karabakh.
Pakistan is a traditional and sustainable partner and ally of Azerbaijan. This country, regardless of who is in the position of its leader, since the moment of our (Azerbaijan) country’s independence, unequivocally supports the position of official Baku in all areas of foreign policy. In addition, Pakistan became one of the first states to recognize our country’s independence in 1991.
Undoubtedly, there are fraternal relations between Azerbaijan and Pakistan based on mutual support, which are further strengthened.
The participation of our countries at such summits, and in addition, the support provided by our countries to each other, makes our positions even more stable and strong. The high level of relations between Azerbaijan and Pakistan is evidenced by the fact that the President of Pakistan, Arif Alvi, was sitting next, to the right of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev.
Finally, it is worth noting the important statements that the leaders of the Pakistani armed forces and various Pakistani politicians made during the escalation of the Karabakh conflict.
All this shows that Pakistan is a brother, a reliable, loyal friend to Azerbaijan. Being grateful to Pakistan and its wise people for supporting the fair position of Azerbaijan, it should be noted, however, that Azerbaijan needs support, but moral support, for fraternal peoples such as Pakistan. And this is a very necessary and important issue at the beginning of any anti-terrorist operation.
Friendship, brotherhood, indestructible allied relations, support of each other in the international arena are the key to further deepening relations between Azerbaijan and Pakistan.
The activity of leaders, prime ministers, and military personnel of fraternal Pakistan played an important role in this matter.
A special role here belongs to the activities of President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev, who made a huge contribution to the development of bilateral relations between the two fraternal peoples, thanks to which Azerbaijan has secured the support of such an important player in the international arena as Pakistan.
