Pakistan rolls out red carpet for Azeri President Ilham Aliyev

• Azeri president to meet President Zardari, COAS General Munir.
• Several MoUs are expected to be signed during dignitary's visit.
• Baku, Islamabad to hold talks to strengthen bilateral cooperation.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Thursday received Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev, who touched down in Islamabad on a two-day official visit on the premier's invitation.

President Aliyev landed at Pakistan Air Force's Nur Khan base where he was greeted with a red carpet welcome as PM Shehbaz along with Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi received him. The foreign dignitary was also presented with a 21-gun salute.

During his visit, President Aliev will hold meetings with the PM, President Asif Ali Zardari, and other senior officials.

With the two sides set to engage in wide-ranging discussions on areas of mutual interest to further strengthen bilateral cooperation, several memorandum of understanding (MoUs) are expected to be signed between Islamabad and Baku.

Earlier, The News had reported that President Zardari would host a banquet in the president's honour and that the foreign dignitary would also meet Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Asim Munir.

The foreign ministers of the two countries will have talks at the Foreign Office, the publication said.

On Monday, it reported that five heads of state, including the Azeri president, were expected to visit Pakistan in the next five months namely Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, United Arab Emirates President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nihan, Qatar’s Emir Tamim al-Thani, and Turkey’s President Recep Erdogan.

In April this year, Islamabad hosted late Iranian president Ebrahim Raisi on a three-day visit wherein the two sides held productive discussions and agreed to advance bilateral cooperation in multiple domains including trade, connectivity, energy and people-to-people contacts.

During his three-day visit to the country, the Iranian president held meetings with President Asif Ali Zardari, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, Army Chief General Munir, Senate Chairman Yusuf Raza Gilani, Speaker of National Assembly Sardar Ayaz Sadiq, and the chief ministers and governors of Sindh and Punjab.

The head of state visited Islamabad, Lahore and Karachi accompanied by his spouse and a high-level delegation, comprising the foreign minister and other members of the cabinet, senior officials and a large business delegation.