Azerbaijan FM met with Minister of State for External Affairs of India

Baku. 30 November. REPORT.AZ/ Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov met with Minister of State for External Affairs of India Mobashar Javed Akbar, who is on a visit to Azerbaijan to participate in the VII Ministerial Conference to be held in Baku within the framework of the "Heart of Asia" - Istanbul Process, Report informs.

It was noted that the year of 2017 is marked by the 25th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Azerbaijan and India, and in this regard, the importance of exchanging mutual high-level visits for promoting bilateral political relations, as well as continuation of the mechanism of political consultations between the Ministries of Foreign Affairs was emphasized.

They also exchanged views on cooperation within international and regional organizations.

Minister Elmar Mammadyarov informed the guest about the latest status of the negotiation process on the settlement of Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and stated that the conflict should be solved only within the territorial integrity, sovereignty and internationally recognized borders of Azerbaijan on the basis of the UN Security Council resolutions.

Stressing the need for expanding bilateral economic relations, the sides noted good opportunities for cooperation in investment, information technology, energy, agriculture, construction, pharmacy and other spheres. In this regard, the activity of Intergovernmental Commission on Trade, Economic, Scientific and Technological Cooperation between the Government of the Republic of Azerbaijan and the Government of the Republic of India was particularly emphasized.

It was also stressed that joining of India to the North-South transport corridor would give impetus to the strengthening of economic cooperation between the two countries. In this regard, the importance of the meetings of the Coordinating Council on the project was highlighted.

At the meeting, sides commended "The Heart of Asia" - the Istanbul Process as an important platform for strengthening regional dialogue and building trust.