Channel News Asia, Singapore from Agence France Presse
July 8 2004

Pakistan’s Musharraf forges mutual support pact with Azerbaijan

BAKU : Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf, on the first day of his
state visit to the Muslim former Soviet republic of Azerbaijan, said
that the two countries had agreed to work together on issues
including the Kashmir dispute, Iraq and the Israeli-Palestinian
conflict.

“The unique character of our political relations is that we always
understand each other and support each other,” Musharraf told a press
conference after talks with Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev.

“That finds expression in the Kashmir…problem,” he added. “In
international questions our positions are also close and on issues of
the Islamic world, like the Palestine question, questions of Iraq and
Afghanistan, we have agreed to coordinate our actions in future.”

Musharraf is due to address the Azeri parliament Friday and fly home
the following day.

Security surrounding the visit was tight. An army general who came to
power in a bloodless coup five years ago, Musharraf has been the
target of assassination attempts at home.

A tiny state of eight million people bordering Iran and Russia,
Azerbaijan has in recent years emerged as a steadfast ally to
Pakistan.

The two countries are united by a common fight against their
non-Muslim neighbours: Pakistan in its conflict with India over
Kashmir and Azerbaijan in a 15-year-old dispute with Armenia over the
enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh.

They are also members of the exclusive club of Muslim states which
have sided with the United States in its fight against international
terrorism, offering logistical and military support to US-led
operations in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Musharraf reciprocated Azerbaijan’s backing for Pakistan over Kashmir
by saying that his country backed Baku’s efforts to regain control
over Karabakh, which is under Armenian control.

“The occupation of Azerbaijan’s regions worries Pakistan and in this
question we will constantly support Azerbaijan,” said the 60-year-old
Pakistani leader.

After talks between the Pakistani and Azeri heads of state, the two
men and their officials signed a series of agreements covering the
tourism trade, customs and combatting the drugs trade and
international terrorism.

Musharraf said his country was also interested in tapping into
Azerbaijan’s oil industry expertise — the country is rich in crude
and has been extracting oil for nearly a century — to help Pakistan
exploit its own energy resources.

“Azerbaijan has great experience,” Musharraf told reporters. “We want
to use that experience, create joint ventures and work together with
Azerbaijan.”

Relations between Azerbaijan and Afghanistan were first forged by
Musharraf’s predecessor Nawaz Sharif when he visited the Azeri
capital in 1995.

The late Azeri head of state Heidar Aliyev — the father of the
current president — made a return visit to Islamabad the following
year.

The two sides concluded a military pact last year. Details are
sketchy, though it is known that Azeri officers are training in
military academies in Pakistan. Islamabad has also offered to sell
its military technology to Azerbaijan.

The Pakistani leader’s schedule for Friday includes a walkabout in
the capital and attending a concert in his honour at the State
Philharmonic Hall.

Deputies in Azerbaijan’s parliament, or Milli Majlis, have been
called back from their summer vacation for a special session Friday
morning at which Musharraf will address them.