On October 12, President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev arrived in the Republic of Kazakhstan for a working visit to attend the plenary session of the 6th Summit of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia and the meeting of the Heads of State of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), the Press Office of the Azerbaijani President reported.

The Azerbaijani President was welcomed by Prime Minister of Kazakhstan Alikhan Smailov and other officials.

Meeting with the Prime Minister of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan

On the same day, Ilham Aliyev met with Shehbaz Sharif, the Prime Minister of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, in Astana.

President Ilham Aliyev stated that the meeting held in Astana a month after the meeting in Samarkand was further evidence of the dynamism of relations between the two countries.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, who recalled the meeting with the President of Azerbaijan in Samarkand with great pleasure, invited President Ilham Aliyev to visit Pakistan. The President of Azerbaijan announced his intention to visit Pakistan and, in turn, invited Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to visit Azerbaijan. The Prime Minister of Pakistan said that he would visit Azerbaijan with pleasure.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif noted that Pakistan had always supported Azerbaijan's territorial integrity and sovereignty in connection with the former Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif expressed his gratitude for Azerbaijan’s fair position.

The President of Azerbaijan expressed his gratitude for Pakistan's position and emphasized that Azerbaijan always supported Pakistan's rightful position on the issue of Jammu and Kashmir. President Ilham Aliyev provided insight into Azerbaijan’s proposals for the normalization of relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan and the signing of a peace treaty. The President noted that if Armenia showed political resolve, a peace treaty could be signed soon.

During the meeting, the sides emphasized the importance of Azerbaijan-Pakistan-Turkiye trilateral cooperation. They hailed the significance of further expansion of bilateral relations in this context. The sides also pointed out the issues of deepening cooperation between the two countries in military-technical, trade, energy, agriculture, transport, and logistics and held discussions in this regard.

Meeting with the President of the Islamic Republic of Iran

On October 13, Ilham Aliyev met with Ebrahim Raisi, the President of the Islamic Republic of Iran, in Astana.

Expressing his satisfaction with the meeting, President Ebrahim Raisi said that the Republic of Azerbaijan was a very important partner for his country among the neighbors of the Islamic Republic of Iran. Noting that he was pleased with the level of economic and trade relations between the two countries, the President of Iran said that his government had a serious intention to develop cooperation with Azerbaijan comprehensively.

The President of Azerbaijan hailed the development of relations among Caspian littoral states based on friendship. "Emphasizing that Azerbaijan was pursuing an independent foreign policy, President Ilham Aliyev drew attention to the fact that on 12-13 September this year, Armenia had committed provocations and deteriorated the regional situation. Stating that peacebuilding processes were currently underway in the South Caucasus, the head of state said Azerbaijan had proposed to sign a peace treaty with Armenia based on five principles. President Ilham Aliyev said he believed in the possibility of achieving progress in this direction if Armenia displayed political resolve," the report added.

Meeting with the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan

On the same day, the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan met with Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan, in Astana.

President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev said: "We consider Azerbaijan our ally and strategic partner, and we will always adhere to this line. Azerbaijan plays a very important part in this region and on a much broader geographical scale. I think we have a lot in common, the desire to develop cooperation in various fields. We discussed this in detail in Baku."

"Now on the agenda is the development of the so-called Middle Corridor. I had talks with the President of Turkiye yesterday. He referred to the meeting of the heads of relevant departments, which took place in Baku, literally several times. Naturally, they aim to continue working in this format. From our side, of course, there will be no problems. On the contrary, we are also interested. In my public speeches, I have repeatedly spoken about the Trans-Caspian route, the so-called Middle Corridor," he added.

Ilham Aliyev said: "Since your visit, I think there are already good achievements and results - we will talk about this shortly - both in the transport sector and other areas. Issues related to the development of the Middle Corridor are the call of the times. It is good that both Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan were prepared for this because a very modern transport infrastructure has been created in our countries, which already makes it possible to transport large volumes of cargo. But in the future, while coordinating our infrastructure plans, I think we can synchronize further work to expand the capacity of the Trans-Caspian route, which will be in the interests of both our countries and peoples, long-term interests, and the interests of countries in our neighborhood. So this topic will have a very serious continuation."

The sides discussed cooperation issues in energy, transport, and logistics. They also exchanged views on continuing the Azerbaijan-Turkey-Kazakhstan meetings in a trilateral format.

Meeting with the Russian President

On October 13, Ilham Aliyev met with Vladimir Putin in Astana.

President Putin said: "Russia continues to be one of Azerbaijan’s leading trade and economic partners. Our trade is growing. Last year it grew by 14 percent, I think, and in the first seven months of this year, it has grown by more than 7 percent. Our economic operators have invested $4.5 billion in the Azerbaijani economy. The co-chairs of the intergovernmental commission meet regularly. Work is proceeding according to the plan you proposed, which is calculated until 2024 inclusive and covers several promising and interesting projects you proposed. Naturally, we always keep issues related to the settlement of the situation in the region in the spotlight. I hope we will use this opportunity to discuss all these issues again and ensure we are on the same page."

President Aliyev said: "We are very pleased with the way relations between our countries are developing. I think they have reached the highest level, the level of allied cooperation, and we are making very active progress on many issues. You have noted, and I would like to confirm, that there is an increase in trade and economic ties. The projects we have now outlined and agreed upon at previous meetings will allow us the opportunity to increase trade further. However, there are also issues related to transport, energy, and cooperation in the humanitarian sphere. We are seeing positive momentum in all areas. Of course, at every meeting, we do not bypass issues of our region, issues of security, and the achievement of peace in the region. We will also talk about this today. We are committed to long-term peace. For our part, we believe that we have proposed sufficiently constructive theses for peace to be finally achieved."