Swaraj to attend NAM ministerial meeting in Azerbaijan

New Delhi [India], Apr 3 (ANI): External Affairs Minister (EAM) Sushma Swaraj will pay an official visit to Azerbaijan from April 4-6 at the invitation of the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Elmar Mammadyarov, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) announced on Tuesday.

Swaraj will represent India at the mid-term ministerial meeting of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) which will be held in Baku on April 5-6.

"As a founding member of NAM, India remains committed to the purposes and principles of the movement. The EAM's participation in the NAM ministerial meeting will underline India's continued active and constructive engagement within the movement with a view to further strengthen solidarity and cooperation among its member states," the MEA said.

During the visit, Swaraj will hold bilateral consultations with Mammadyarov. Earlier, the Foreign Minister of Azerbaijan had paid a bilateral visit to India in May 2013.

She is scheduled to call on the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev and First Vice-President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Mehriban Aliyeva respectively.

"India and Azerbaijan enjoy warm and friendly relations based on historical and cultural ties. They have growing bilateral cooperation in many areas including energy, transportation, and capacity building," the MEA added.

The two sides will discuss bilateral, regional and global issues of mutual interest. India's Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC)-Videsh is an investor in Azeri-Chirag-Gunashli (ACG) oil fields and Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline respectively. (ANI)

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