ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Sunday held a telephonic conversation with Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev and discussed with him enhanced regional connectivity after Baku’s peace deal with Armenia, Sharif’s office said.
US President Donald Trump this week announced that Armenia and Azerbaijan had committed to a lasting peace after decades of conflict as he hosted the leaders of the South Caucasus rivals at a White House signing event.
The development comes as Pakistan, slowly recovering from a macroeconomic crisis under a $7 billion International Monetary Fund (IMF) loan, looks to capitalize on its geostrategic location to boost transit trade and foreign investment for a sustainable recovery.
During their conversation, Sharif felicitated President Aliyev on the historic peace agreement with Armenia and said the end of the three decades-old conflict would usher in a new era of prosperity for the Caucuses.
“The prime minister particularly appreciated the role played by US President Donald Trump in facilitating this historic deal that would now bring peace and prosperity to the region,” Sharif’s office said in a statement.
“While thanking the Prime Minister, President Aliyev said that peaceful development in the region would create new opportunities for enhanced connectivity between Pakistan and Central Asia.”
Christian-majority Armenia and Muslim-majority Azerbaijan have feuded for decades over their border and the status of ethnic enclaves within each other’s territories. The nations went to war twice over the disputed Karabakh region, which
Azerbaijan recaptured from Armenian forces in a lightning 2023 offensive, sparking the exodus of more than 100,000 ethnic Armenians.
Trump said at the White House event the two former Soviet republics “are committing to stop all fighting forever, open up commerce, travel and diplomatic relations and respect each other’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.”
“President Aliyev expressed deep appreciation for Pakistan’s longstanding and consistent support to Azerbaijan on the Karabakh issue,” Sharif’s office said.
“The prime minister responded that ‘it has always been a matter of duty for the people of Pakistan to extend their support to their Azerbaijani brothers and sisters on this core issue and it was heartening to note that, under President Aliyev’s bold leadership and statesmanship, peace had finally been established in this region’.”
Both leaders expressed their satisfaction on the positive trajectory of their bilateral cooperation, according to the statement. The prime minister reiterated his invitation to President Aliyev to undertake an official visit to Pakistan soon. Both leaders are also expected to meet in Tianjin on the margins of an upcoming Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit.
Pakistan and Azerbaijan maintain close ties. In July, Sharif met with President Aliyev in Khankendi on the sidelines of the 17th Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) summit, where the two leaders agreed to boost bilateral trade and investment.
This was Sharif’s third visit to Azerbaijan in 2025. He last traveled to Baku in May as part of a broader push at economic diplomacy with the Central Asian republics, to whom Pakistan has offered access to its southern ports in Karachi and Gwadar.
In July 2024, Azerbaijan announced a $2 billion investment in Pakistan during a visit by President Aliyev to Islamabad. In September last year, Pakistan signed a contract to supply JF-17 Block III fighter jets to Azerbaijan, marking the deepening of defense cooperation.
