ISLAMABAD, April 13: Pakistan and Azerbaijan on Wednesday urged the United Nations to implement its resolutions on Kashmir and Nagorno-Karabakh and agreed that the proposed reforms in the world body should reflect the wishes of a majority of the members. Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz and Azeri President Ilham Aliyev also witnessed signing of six agreements and memorandums of understanding on increasing cooperation in culture, education, finance, communication, information technology and aeronautics after formal talks here.

The two leaders held one-to-one meeting and later headed their respective delegations for wide-ranging talks on bilateral, political and economic issues and regional and international issues of mutual concern.

Talking to reporters after the meeting, they expressed support to each other on the issues of Kashmir and Nagorno-Karabakh.

The two issues should be resolved based on the norms and principles of international law and based on resolutions of international organization, Mr Aliyev said.

“Unfortunately, we feel UN resolutions on Kashmir and Nagorno-Karabakh are not implemented,” he added.

If left on paper, the decisions by international organizations would not be respected by the international community, he said.

Prime Minister Aziz said Pakistan wanted peaceful resolution of all disputes, including those of Kashmir and Nagorno-Karabakh.

“We think that the issues need to be resolved to reflect the views and aspirations of the people of these regions and in line with the UN resolutions,” he added.

“The effectiveness of the United Nations would only be felt if the resolutions passed by it are also implemented,” he observed.

On UN reforms, the PM said these should be conducted in a way which was equitable, democratic and reflected the wishes of the majority of the members through consensus, and not in any other way.

They described their talks as “very fruitful”, agreeing on a number of steps to promote cooperation in trade and economic fields.

It was agreed that the Azeri airline will start a direct flight between Baku and Karachi while the National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) will open a branch in the central Asian state.

“President Pervez Musharraf’s visit to Azerbaijan and my visit showed that we support each other on all issues of mutual concern,” the Azeri leader said.

He, however, noted that their excellent political ties were not reflected in the economic and trade relations and needed to be enhanced.

The president described Pakistan-Azerbaijan relations as very important for regional cooperation as the two countries were active participants of the regional cooperation projects.

He hoped that the agreements signed on Wednesday would give a new fillip to their economic ties through increased interaction between their private sectors.

Prime Minister Aziz vowed to take bilateral ties to new height through increased cooperation in trade and investment.

Responding to a question, he said the two sides discussed cooperation in various areas of defence ranging from training to purchase of equipment. “We have close relations that involve all aspects, including defence,” he added.

The Azeri leader described cooperation in defence as one of the important elements of bilateral discussion.

“Pakistan has big achievements in this sphere (defence). Azerbaijan is upgrading its defence potential like any other country and we discussed practical issues of cooperation in the field,” he said and hoped that the discussions would have good results.

The prime minister said the two countries, which are members of the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO), agreed that it could be used as a platform for regional economic cooperation.

“We both agree that ECO needs to be strengthened, streamlined and made an effective organization,” he added.

The three agreements signed are on cultural cooperation between the finance ministries and in the field of communication and information technology.

The two MoUs are on cooperation between the ministry of communication of Pakistan and the ministry of transport of Azerbaijan and between the aeronautical authorities.

A protocol was signed on cooperation between the ministries of education of the two countries.

The Pakistani side at the talks included Foreign Minister Khurshid Mehmood Kasuri, Minister of Social Welfare Zobaida Jalal, Minister for Sports and Culture Muhammad Ajmal Khan, Minister of Information Technology Owais Ahmed Khan Leghari, Minister of State for Finance Omer Ayub Khan, and other officials.—APP