LONDON: Pakistan has denied its involvement in the ongoing Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict, following a claim by the Armenian prime minister that Pakistani troops were fighting alongside Azerbaijani troops.
In an official statement released on Saturday, the Pakistani foreign office said it regretted Armenia’s decision to resort to “irresponsible propaganda” and that it would continue to “stand by the brotherly nation of Azerbaijan.”
The defense ministry of the Nagorno-Karabakh region said on Friday it had recorded another 29 casualties among its military, pushing the military death toll to 633 since fighting with Azeri forces erupted on Sept. 27.
The fighting has surged to its worst level since the 1990s, when some 30,000 people were killed.
Also on Friday, there were growing signs that a Russian-brokered cease-fire agreed upon last week to allow sides to swap detainees and bodies of those killed had all but broken down.
Nagorno-Karabakh is internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan but populated and governed by ethnic Armenians.
Read the Pakistani statement in full below…
We have seen the transcript of Armenian prime minister’s interview on Oct. 15 with Russian TV referring to some unsubstantiated reports alleging involvement of Pakistani special forces alongside the Azerbaijani army in the ongoing conflict.
We categorically reject these baseless and unwarranted comments. President Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan has also clarified his stance on the matter stating that Azerbaijani forces are strong enough to defend their homeland and do not need the help of foreign forces.
It is regrettable that leadership of Armenia, to cover up its illegal actions against Azerbaijan, is resorting to irresponsible propaganda, which it must stop.
For our part, we wish to make clear that Pakistan has consistently extended diplomatic, moral and political support to Azerbaijan. Pakistan will continue to stand by the brotherly nation of Azerbaijan and support its right of self-defence against any aggression.
We believe that long-term peace and normalization of relations between the two parties would depend on the complete and comprehensive implementation of the UN Security Council resolutions and withdrawal of Armenian forces from Azerbaijani territories.
