“Pakistan and Azerbaijan have always fought shoulder to shoulder and supported each other. There is mutual understanding between the countries on many issues, including in the defense sphere. Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev specifically stated this in his press release after the completion of negotiations with Pakistani Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif. Azerbaijan and Pakistan have agreed to increase the number of joint military exercises we have conducted in the past. This is necessary because the situation in the world is changing, zones of instability are growing, so a strong military potential is a guarantee of independence and territorial integrity. Although Azerbaijan has been negotiating with Armenia for almost 30 years, they have not yielded results, and our territorial integrity has been restored only thanks to our military might and the spirit of Azerbaijani fighters. In other words, we restored it without negotiations or any intermediaries.”
Ednews reports that Mahmoud Ul Hassan Khan, a regional expert on Azerbaijan and the South Caucasus, told CBC TV Azerbaijan about Shahbaz Sharif's visit to Baku.
He noted that today Azerbaijan and Pakistan consider military cooperation as a means of achieving regional security and balance.
In particular, according to him, we are talking about joint exercises on military training, information support and the production of various military products.
“The Ministries of Defense of Azerbaijan and Pakistan make mutual visits. Thus, an Azerbaijani delegation recently visited Pakistan. Issues of further development of cooperation in the defense industry were discussed. As you know, the strengthening of military cooperation between Armenia and India threatens stability in the region, so Baku and Islamabad should establish cooperation in the defense industry, possibly in the production of drones and other advanced weapons.
The expert also noted that Azerbaijan pays great attention to the issue of equipping the army with the most modern weapons and military equipment.
According to him, in this context, cooperation with Islamabad is envisaged in the future.
“Pakistan's defense industry includes many large enterprises, as well as research and development and manufacturing complexes. The country is mainly engaged in the design and manufacture of aviation and naval equipment.
Azerbaijan and Pakistan are actively cooperating in organizing joint military exercises. The corresponding agreement between the armed forces of the two countries was signed in May 2003. The agreement provided for the participation of Azerbaijani special forces in annual military exercises. In 2021, in addition to the armed forces of Pakistan, the Three Brothers exercises were held in Azerbaijan with the participation of the armed forces of Azerbaijan, Turkey and Pakistan. Later, the military of the three countries, among other things, worked on a joint search for new ways to combat terrorism. By the way, the fight against terrorism is another area of cooperation with Pakistan.”
Mahmoud Ul Hassan Khan also said that Pakistan has a lot of experience in dealing with any kind of terrorist threat. The country cooperated with the US in the fight against terrorism during the war in Afghanistan.
“More than 17,000 people have been victims of terrorism in Pakistan. Cooperation that will allow combating such crimes is very important not only for the Caucasus region, but for the whole of Asia.
Defense cooperation with Pakistan is also conditioned by bilateral diplomatic relations. After Turkey, in 1991, Pakistan became the second country to recognize the independence of Azerbaijan. Islamabad seriously supported Baku in the issue of 30 years of Armenian occupation. All this time, Pakistan did not recognize Armenia as a state and did not establish diplomatic relations with it. During the 44-day war, Pakistan supported Azerbaijan. Undoubtedly, such high-level meetings, as well as meetings of heads of defense and other military departments, give a new impetus to the development of these relations.
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