"We have a special connection, passion and respect for you and the people of Azerbaijan. And we really appreciate your strategic vision in terms of complete socio-economic transformation of Azerbaijan, and successful liberation of Karabakh. Since a lot of questions related to geopolitics have already been asked, so my questions pertain to geo-economics," Dr. Mehmood Ul Hassan Khan, Executive Director Centre for South Asia and International Studies ( CSAIS) & Regional Expert said at the 4th International Conference “Shapping the geo-politics of the greater Eurasian from past to present to future”.

"Would Azerbaijan seek Chinese diplomatic assistance to resolve the issue of Zangezur corridor? How do you foresee is the role of Azerbaijan after Chinese facilitated peace agreement between Saudi Arabia and Iran in the Greater Eurasian region? Because it has changed the regional socio-economic dimension and geopolitics and most recently, phenomenon, the pace of the process of dedollarisation strategic expansion of SCO and momentum of BRICS. Thank you," Pakistani expert asked President Ilham Aliyev. 

President Ilham Aliyev: Thank you. First of all, I'd like to say that Pakistan and Azerbaijan are true friends and brotherly countries. We are very grateful to the people and government, and previous governments of Pakistan for continuous support to Azerbaijan. With respect to our territorial integrity and sovereignty - during the times of occupation, during the war - there were very clear statements from high-ranking Pakistani leaders - President and Prime Minister - supporting Azerbaijan and after the war. So, once again, like to ask you to convey our gratitude to all our brothers. Pakistan is one of the three countries along with Türkiye and Saudi Arabia, which did not have any diplomatic relations with Armenia, because of occupation and we, of course, highly value that.
With respect to the Zangezur corridor and as far as I got it correctly, how China can facilitate. I think there's a big potential in Zangezur corridor and already I mentioned that the railroad connection between China, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, is started. The Zangezur corridor has a big potential to become one of the extension of the One Belt and One Road and also can be part of the North South Corridor. Because entering Nakhchivan, then it has already a railroad connection with Iranian railroad, which can deliver goods to the Persian Gulf. So, Zangezur corridor is important not only for Azerbaijan and Armenia, but I think on a global scale. Because we expect a growing number of cargoes, growing volume of cargoes. So, the more roads we have the better. As far as we're concerned, next year we will complete the construction of the railroad, which was dismantled during the times of occupation and it was sold on the market by Armenians from Fuzuli to Zangilan, almost to Armenian border and 40 something kilometers on the territory of Armenia. If built, that will be, of course, an international project. If Armenia would put artificial obstacles in front of that project, they will only lose. Because today we don't have any problems of transporting goods through Georgia, Türkiye, through Georgia and Black sea ports, either through Russia or through Iran, but Armenia doesn't have this physical connections.

With respect to the role of China in normalization between Saudi Arabia and Iran, we highly value the role of China, by the way, I’d like to say that we have excellent relations with China. I met President of China Xi Jinping many times. And he called me a good friend of China during one of our meetings. So, I think only this is enough to demonstrate the level of our cooperation. And of course, we support normalization between Saudi Arabia and Iran. We do not know what is the substance of the agreement, it's not known for us, but anyway, it's very good. Saudi Arabia - for us is brotherly country - country with which we had excellent relations and we want them only progress, stability and development. As I said, they did not establish diplomatic relations with Armenia because of us. And this means a lot. And of course, Iran as a neighbor, of course, we want stability and predictability in Iran. So, I think that the role of China must be only appreciated.

With respect to the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, I was invited for the first time, by the way, to the Summit, which took place in Uzbekistan, because Azerbaijan is not as you know, a member is not even an observer, Azerbaijan status is partner for dialogue. But nevertheless, Azerbaijan was invited and I think that was very important for us, because with many countries of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, we have very good relations. Thank you." 

The Pakistani expert also suggested to policy makers of Azerbaijan to think about initiation of rigorous diplomatic drive of connectivity, political consultations and economic cooperation in the GCC, Middle East and MENA after the Chinese facilitated Saudi-Iran peace agreement to rescuer the vested interests of Azerbaijan.

Interestingly during the marathon live interaction with H.E. Ilham Aliyev President of Azerbaijan he extended his and Pakistan’s special respects, love and connection to him and of course the people of Azerbaijan.

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