"As a minister I denied Armenia diplomatic recognition by Pakistan"

Azeri.Today's exclusive interview with Pakistan's former minister of foreign affairs Sardar Aseff Ahmad Ali.


Note: Sardar Aseff Ahmad Ali is a Pakistani politician who served as the 18th Foreign Minister of Pakistan from 1993 to 1996. He was a senior member of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf and Pakistan Peoples Party. On 25 December 2011, he joined PTI but resigned when party awarded Khurshid Kasuri National Assembly ticket instead of him. He was elected to the National Assembly of Pakistan from Kasur in 1994 and again in 2008 by an impressive margin of ten thousand votes. He has also served as the Minister for Education (Pakistan) and Federal Minister of Information Technology and Telecommunication between 2008 and 2010.

- The 13th ECO summit has been held in Islamabad lately. How do you assess the outcomes of the summit?

- The summit was held on a high level. Pakistan is amongst the first founding states of ECO. Pakistan sees a tremendous potential in its economic, social and cultural development of this region.

- What can you say about Azerbaijan’s role in strengthening Islamic solidarity around the world?

- Azerbaijan is an important Muslim nation with tremendous potential. It is a link to the North and the South. It has great potential as a bridge between northern and southern states, as well as between Asia and Europe.

- What can you say about the Azerbaijan-Pakistan relations?

- Pakistan had the honor to be the first country in the world to give diplomatic recognition to your country. As a foreign Minister I had a role in the foundation of ECO. Both countries need to strengthen our friendly relations.

- Diplomatic relations between Pakistan and Azerbaijan were established in 1992 and from 1993 until 1996 you were the foreign minister of Pakistan. How were the relations between our countries built those years?

- As a minister between 1991-1996, I helped in establishing strong economic and social links between the two countries, including PIA flights from Pakistan. As a minister I got Pakistan’s unconditional support for Azerbaijani case on Nagorno-Karabakh and denied Armenia diplomatic recognition by Pakistan. A brought a large quantity of relief goods for the refugees by a C130 plane and flew in to Baku to deliver it. I am confident that Pakistan will extend every possible support and help to our Azeri brothers in event of a conflict. But I pray a political and diplomatic solution is found. War never is a solution as history has proven again and again.

Seymur Mammadov