Pakistan, Azerbaijan offer mutual support in territorial disputes

AP Worldstream
Apr 13, 2005

Pakistan’s prime minister and the visiting Azerbaijani president on
Wednesday lent support to each other in territorial disputes their
governments have with other nations over Kashmir and Nagorno-Karabakh.

After talks in Islamabad, President Ilham Aliev told reporters that
Azerbaijan backed Pakistan’s stand on Kashmir, and Prime Minister
Shaukat Aziz said Pakistan would continue to support Azerbaijan on the
issue of Nagorno-Karabakh.

Kashmir is divided between Pakistan and India and the neighbors have
fought two out of three wars over it since they gained independence
from Britain in 1947. Both countries claim the Himalayan region in its
entirety.

Azerbaijan has said that it is not ready for any compromise with
neighboring Armenia over Nagorno-Karabakh, saying the land held by
ethnic Armenian forces since a 1994 war is Azerbaijani territory and
cannot be the subject of bargaining.

“We think that the issues need to be resolved to reflect the views and
aspirations of the people of these regions,” Aziz said.

Earlier, the two countries signed six agreements to enhance ties in
culture, education, finance, communication and information technology.

On Tuesday, Aliev held talks with Pakistan’s President Gen. Pervez
Musharraf. The Azerbaijani leader is due to leave Pakistan on
Thursday.