Pakistan and Armenia on Sunday formally established diplomatic relations, the Foreign Office (FO) announced in a statement.

Until today, Pakistan and Armenia did not have formal diplomatic relations. The relationship was characterised by a regional geopolitical rivalry, with Pakistan supporting Azerbaijan against Armenia in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, as per the Press Information Department.

However, earlier this week, Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar said that Pakistan had agreed to consider establishing diplomatic relations with Armenia after a phone call with counterpart Ararat Mirzoyan following a peace deal between Azerbaijan and Armenia.

According to the FO today, Islamabad and Yerevan formally established diplomatic relations by exchanging a joint communique in Tianjin, on the sidelines of the ongoing Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit.

“Marking a historic step forward, both the leaders [Dar and Mirzoyan] affirmed their commitment to the principles and objectives of [the] United Nations Charter and discussed possible avenues of cooperation, including economy, education, culture, and tourism,” the FO statement read.

“The two leaders reaffirmed their desire to work closely with each other at bilateral and multilateral fora, to achieve their shared objectives of peace, progress, and prosperity for the peoples of their two countries.”

In a post on X, Dar wrote that he was pleased to sign the joint communique with his Armenian counterpart and echoed the FO’s remarks on affirming their commitment to the principles of the UN Charter.

The FM also attached photos of himself and Mirzoyan signing and exchanging the document, fanked by their national flags.

The Armenian foreign minister aslo wrote on X: “By this major step, our governments express their desire to develop mutually beneficial cooperation in line [with] the UN Charter [and] readiness to foster constructive engagement in multilateral fora.

Previously this month, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif hailed US President Donald Trump’s peace efforts following his role in brokering the Armenia-Azerbaijan peace deal.

“Pakistan welcomes the historic peace agreement signed between the Republic of Azerbaijan and the Republic of Armenia at the White House Summit under the auspices of US President Donald J Trump,” the premier wrote in a statement on X.

He congratulated both countries on “charting a course for a peaceful future for their region”, stating: “Pakistan has always stood by the brotherly nation of Azerbaijan and we stand with them at this proud moment of their history.”