Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev has arrived in Pakistan for a two-day official visit from July 11-12, at the invitation of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif personally greeted President Aliyev upon his arrival. The welcome included a 21-gun salute and a heartwarming gesture where two children in traditional attire presented bouquets to the visiting leader.

During his stay, President Aliyev is scheduled to meet with both Prime Minister Shehbaz and President Asif Ali Zardari. These discussions will cover a wide range of topics aimed at strengthening the cooperation between the two nations. It is anticipated that several agreements and Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) will be signed during the visit.

“The visit of President Aliyev underscores the strong cooperation and high-level dialogue between our two countries,” stated a Pakistani official.

This visit follows Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s recent participation in the inaugural session of the Pakistan-Turkiye-Azerbaijan Trilateral Summit, held alongside the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Summit. The summit also included Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev.

At the session, PM Shehbaz Sharif suggested the creation of tripartite institutional mechanisms, especially focusing on economic and investment areas, to enhance the trilateral cooperation between Pakistan, Turkiye, and Azerbaijan.