Daily Times, Pakistan from Agence France Presse
July 9 2004
Azerbaijan will support Pakistan on Kashmir, says Musharraf
* Says Pakistan will support Azerbaijan on Karabakh
* Both countries sign four agreements
BAKU: President Pervez Musharraf, on the first day of his state visit
to the former Soviet republic of Azerbaijan, said on Thursday 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,’ President 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.’
President 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,’ he said.
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 combating 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.’ President Musharraf is due to address the Azeri
parliament today (Friday) and fly home the following day. President
Musharraf’s schedule for Friday includes a walkabout in the capital
and attending a concert in his honour at the State Philharmonic Hall.