Swaraj meets Azerbaijan President to discuss ways of strengthening bilateral ties

Baku [Azerbaijan], Apr 4 (ANI): External Affairs Minister (EAM) Sushma Swaraj met with the President of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev at the President's Palace here on Wednesday and held a bilateral meeting with the latter to discuss ways of strengthening bilateral relations between the two countries in various sectors.

The two sides discussed on how to strengthen cooperation in trade and investment, connectivity and transportation, culture and tourism, pharmaceuticals, energy and other sectors.

The spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) Raveesh Kumar took to his Twitter handle and posted an image of the meeting between Swaraj and Aliyev.

"First engagement of the day! EAM @SushmaSwaraj called on President of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev at President's Palace. Discussed strengthening cooperation in trade & investment, connectivity and transportation, culture and tourism, pharmaceuticals, energy, IT and other sectors," wrote Kumar on the micro-blogging site.

Earlier on Wednesday, Swaraj arrived in Baku to attend the mid-term ministerial conference of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM). Upon her arrival, she was greeted by Indian and Azerbaijani officials respectively.

Swaraj is on a three-day visit to the Central Asian country to attend the NAM mid-term ministerial conference.

The conference will be held in Baku on April 5-6 under the theme of "Promoting international peace and security for sustainable development".

The MEA said in a statement, "As a founding member of NAM, India remains committed to the purposes and principles of the movement. External Affairs Minister'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."

During the visit, the EAM will hold bilateral consultations with her Azerbaijani counterpart Elmar Mammadyarov and other officials. The two sides will discuss bilateral, regional and global issues of mutual interest. (ANI)

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