Pakistan's PM arrives in Azerbaijan for trilateral summit amid regional diplomacy following India standoff
ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif arrived in Azerbaijan on Tuesday as part of a regional diplomacy tour following a military standoff with India, where he will attend a trilateral summit with the Azerbaijani and Turkish presidents on trade, connectivity and strategic cooperation.
The visit to Azerbaijan marks the third stop on Sharif's five-day diplomatic push, which began in Türkiye and continued in Iran. The tour follows a four-day military escalation earlier this month that saw Islamabad and New Delhi trade missile, drone and artillery strikes after an attack in Indian-administered Kashmir killed 26 people.
India blamed Pakistan for the incident in Kashmir, though Islamabad denied involvement and called for an international investigation.
As the situation escalated, Türkiye and Azerbaijan expressed support for Pakistan, prompting Sharif to convey his gratitude to both countries.
'Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif has arrived in the Azerbaijani city of Lachin to participate in the Pakistan-Türkiye-Azerbaijan trilateral summit,' Sharif's office announced in a statement.
'He will join Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev for the meeting and will also hold a bilateral discussion with President Aliyev,' it added.
Sharif was received at Lachin airport by Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov, Pakistan's Ambassador Qasim Mueenuddin and senior diplomatic staff.
He is accompanied by Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar, Information Minister Attaullah Tarar and Special Assistant Tariq Fatemi.
At the start of his regional visit, Sharif met Erdogan in Türkiye and thanked him for Ankara's strong backing during the recent military conflict with India.
The two leaders discussed expanding cooperation in defense production, energy, IT and infrastructure. They also agreed to pursue a bilateral trade target of $5 billion, building on commitments made during the 7th High-Level Strategic Cooperation Council in Islamabad earlier this year.
Sharif also visited Tehran, where he held meetings with President Masoud Pezeshkian and Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
He offered peace talks to India on contentious issues including Kashmir, water-sharing and counterterrorism, pointing out Pakistan was 'serious' about resolving long-standing disputes with its nuclear neighbor.
The Iranian leadership welcomed Pakistan's approach, affirming Tehran's support for peaceful dialogue and regional security.
Pakistan and Azerbaijan have in recent years strengthened ties through defense and energy cooperation and Baku has supported Islamabad's position on Kashmir in international forums.
Islamabad has offered Azerbaijan access to its seaports to facilitate trade with global markets and has promoted regional connectivity initiatives linking Central Asia to South Asia.
The trilateral summit in Lachin is expected to further strengthen ties among the three Muslim-majority countries.
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