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AZERBAIJAN: COURTING ENHANCED PAKISTANI SUPPORT
ISN (Int'l Relations & Security Network), Zurich
July 23 2013
To strengthen its hand in the Nagorno-Karabakh dispute, Azerbaijan is
upgrading its military relations with Pakistan. According to Shahla
Sultanova, however, such cooperation is also raising fears of nuclear
proliferation and other forms of instability in the South Caucasus.
By Shahla Shultanova for EurasiaNet
While Turkey remains Azerbaijan's chief strategic partner, officials
in Baku are taking steps to upgrade relations with Pakistan. The
diplomatic push is part of Baku's plan to bolster its hand in its
dealings over the future of Nagorno-Karabakh.
The past few months have seen lots of diplomatic contacts, with
officials and experts on both sides hyping bilateral relations. At a
conference in Islamabad in early May, Baku's ambassador to Islamabad,
Dashgin Shikarov, described Azerbaijan and Pakistan as "brothers."
Meanwhile, Bahar Muradova, the Azerbaijani parliament's deputy speaker,
was quoted by the state news agency AzerTag in mid-May as saying that
Baku "has always felt Pakistan`s support on many issues."
The fundamental building block of the bilateral relationship is
military cooperation. The two countries signed a defense agreement
in late January and naval officers subsequently held discussions on
military-technical issues. In addition, Azerbaijani naval personnel
participated in a Pakistani-led exercise, Aman-2013, held in March
on the Arabian Sea.
Pakistan is also seen as a potential arms supplier to Baku. Over
the past few years, for instance, Azerbaijan has shown interest in
obtaining JF-17 aircraft, a multi-purpose combat jet developed jointly
by Pakistan and China.
Attempts to broaden ties aren't limited to the strategic sphere. In
late May, Baku announced that it would offer scholarships for 36
Pakistani scholars and would set up programs at Pakistani Universities
to promote a better understanding of Azerbaijan.
But officials in both countries don't try to hide the fact that
strategic expediency that is driving the two countries together:
Baku wants to muster all the backing it can as it strives to recover
Nagorno-Karabakh, while Pakistan feels the same about the contested
territory of Kashmir.
"These are two Muslim states, having similar problems like Kashmir and
Nagorno-Karabakh. They need the support of each other," said Sarwat
Rauf, a doctoral candidate who specializes on Caspian Basin affairs
at Quaid-i-Azam University in Islamabad.
Pakistan was among the first states to recognize Azerbaijan's
independence following the 1991 Soviet collapse. Conversely, Islamabad
hasn't yet formally recognized Armenia, Baku's arch-rival.
Both sides may sound optimistic about the strategic relationship,
but at present there appears to be a significant limitation on how far
it can go, specifically Azerbaijan's strong security ties with Israel.
Pakistan does not have diplomatic relations with Israel and clearly
feels uncomfortable about Baku's strategic ties to Tel Aviv. In
2012, Pakistani officials urged Azerbaijani leaders to form a formal
military alliance, a gesture that some analysts interpreted as a move
by Islamabad designed to undermine Azerbaijani-Israeli ties.
Azerbaijan has reacted cautiously to the Pakistani offer, as it
clearly wants to keep its strategic options open.
The current level of cooperation is beneficial enough for both sides,
said Richard Giragosian, director of the Regional Studies Center, a
Yerevan based think tank. "For Pakistan, the alliance with Azerbaijan
offers a degree of recognition of Pakistan's bid or become a more
active, assertive and powerful regional actor, while conveniently
responding to its rival India's close ties to Armenia," Giragosian
said. "For Azerbaijan, Pakistan is also an important diplomatic
supporter and more recently, as key military partner."
Pakistan's status as a nuclear power, combined with its delicate
internal political balance, makes Giragosian nervous that closer
Azerbaijani-Pakistani relations could cause trouble in the South
Caucasus. "Given the record of criminal activity over Pakistan's A.Q.
Khan network of black market selling and sharing of nuclear
weapons-related technology, there is ... serious concern over
proliferation in a region already troubled by Iran's pursuit of
nuclear weapons," he said.
Jasur Sumerinli, head of the Baku-based Doktrina military-research
center, downplayed the idea that stronger Azerbaijani-Pakistani
security ties heightened the risk of destabilization in the Caucasus.
"[Bilateral] cooperation is built with the blessing of the Western
community," he said.
http://www.isn.ethz.ch/Digital-Library/Articles/Detail/?lng=en&id=166627
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
ISN (Int'l Relations & Security Network), Zurich
July 23 2013
To strengthen its hand in the Nagorno-Karabakh dispute, Azerbaijan is
upgrading its military relations with Pakistan. According to Shahla
Sultanova, however, such cooperation is also raising fears of nuclear
proliferation and other forms of instability in the South Caucasus.
By Shahla Shultanova for EurasiaNet
While Turkey remains Azerbaijan's chief strategic partner, officials
in Baku are taking steps to upgrade relations with Pakistan. The
diplomatic push is part of Baku's plan to bolster its hand in its
dealings over the future of Nagorno-Karabakh.
The past few months have seen lots of diplomatic contacts, with
officials and experts on both sides hyping bilateral relations. At a
conference in Islamabad in early May, Baku's ambassador to Islamabad,
Dashgin Shikarov, described Azerbaijan and Pakistan as "brothers."
Meanwhile, Bahar Muradova, the Azerbaijani parliament's deputy speaker,
was quoted by the state news agency AzerTag in mid-May as saying that
Baku "has always felt Pakistan`s support on many issues."
The fundamental building block of the bilateral relationship is
military cooperation. The two countries signed a defense agreement
in late January and naval officers subsequently held discussions on
military-technical issues. In addition, Azerbaijani naval personnel
participated in a Pakistani-led exercise, Aman-2013, held in March
on the Arabian Sea.
Pakistan is also seen as a potential arms supplier to Baku. Over
the past few years, for instance, Azerbaijan has shown interest in
obtaining JF-17 aircraft, a multi-purpose combat jet developed jointly
by Pakistan and China.
Attempts to broaden ties aren't limited to the strategic sphere. In
late May, Baku announced that it would offer scholarships for 36
Pakistani scholars and would set up programs at Pakistani Universities
to promote a better understanding of Azerbaijan.
But officials in both countries don't try to hide the fact that
strategic expediency that is driving the two countries together:
Baku wants to muster all the backing it can as it strives to recover
Nagorno-Karabakh, while Pakistan feels the same about the contested
territory of Kashmir.
"These are two Muslim states, having similar problems like Kashmir and
Nagorno-Karabakh. They need the support of each other," said Sarwat
Rauf, a doctoral candidate who specializes on Caspian Basin affairs
at Quaid-i-Azam University in Islamabad.
Pakistan was among the first states to recognize Azerbaijan's
independence following the 1991 Soviet collapse. Conversely, Islamabad
hasn't yet formally recognized Armenia, Baku's arch-rival.
Both sides may sound optimistic about the strategic relationship,
but at present there appears to be a significant limitation on how far
it can go, specifically Azerbaijan's strong security ties with Israel.
Pakistan does not have diplomatic relations with Israel and clearly
feels uncomfortable about Baku's strategic ties to Tel Aviv. In
2012, Pakistani officials urged Azerbaijani leaders to form a formal
military alliance, a gesture that some analysts interpreted as a move
by Islamabad designed to undermine Azerbaijani-Israeli ties.
Azerbaijan has reacted cautiously to the Pakistani offer, as it
clearly wants to keep its strategic options open.
The current level of cooperation is beneficial enough for both sides,
said Richard Giragosian, director of the Regional Studies Center, a
Yerevan based think tank. "For Pakistan, the alliance with Azerbaijan
offers a degree of recognition of Pakistan's bid or become a more
active, assertive and powerful regional actor, while conveniently
responding to its rival India's close ties to Armenia," Giragosian
said. "For Azerbaijan, Pakistan is also an important diplomatic
supporter and more recently, as key military partner."
Pakistan's status as a nuclear power, combined with its delicate
internal political balance, makes Giragosian nervous that closer
Azerbaijani-Pakistani relations could cause trouble in the South
Caucasus. "Given the record of criminal activity over Pakistan's A.Q.
Khan network of black market selling and sharing of nuclear
weapons-related technology, there is ... serious concern over
proliferation in a region already troubled by Iran's pursuit of
nuclear weapons," he said.
Jasur Sumerinli, head of the Baku-based Doktrina military-research
center, downplayed the idea that stronger Azerbaijani-Pakistani
security ties heightened the risk of destabilization in the Caucasus.
"[Bilateral] cooperation is built with the blessing of the Western
community," he said.
http://www.isn.ethz.ch/Digital-Library/Articles/Detail/?lng=en&id=166627
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress