THE FAR EAST GETS EVEN CLOSER

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev started off his tour of Asia in Vietnam. It would appear that we have little in common with that country many thousands of kilometres away in South-East Asia. But, in actual fact, Azerbaijani-Vietnamese relations not only have a modern context, but a historical one too.

Long ago, back in 1959, Ho Chi Minh, the founder of the Communist Party in Vietnam and the recognised leader of the Vietnamese people, visited Baku. Thousands of Vietnamese students were studying in our republic, and Azerbaijani experts were making a noticeable contribution to the development of the oil industry in that country. In modern times an agreement between the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan (SOCAR) and Petro Vietnam is being implemented on supplying 3.5m barrels of high-quality Caspian oil, which is mixed with local oil to improve the refining process, and the volume of economic ties has reached 400m dollars.

The Azerbaijani president's visit to Vietnam has been accorded the top-level status of a state visit. After the official meeting ceremony, narrow-format talks were held between President Ilham Aliyev and Vietnamese President Truong Tan Sang and then broader-format ones with the members of the delegations attending. An interesting exchange of opinions took place on issues such as strengthening bilateral relations between the countries in various fields, including the expansion of co-operation in international organisations, in the energy, science, education, tourism and investment fields, as well as others. The mention of Vietnamese President Truong Tan Sang's visit to the USSR, when Heydar Aliyev was the first deputy prime minister in the Soviet government, made the business-like atmosphere at the meeting a particularly warm one. According to the Vietnamese president, Heydar Aliyev had paid a great deal of attention to everything concerning Vietnam. 

When the talks ended, two Azerbaijani-Vietnamese documents were signed: "An agreement on commercial, economic, scientific and technical co-operation" as well as "A convention on avoiding dual taxation on incomes and property and combatting tax evasion".

A state reception was given in honour of the Azerbaijani leader and his wife, at which the sides exchanged speeches. President Ilham Aliyev expressed his gratitude for the hospitality he had received and invited Vietnamese President Truong Tan Sang to make an official visit to Azerbaijan at his convenience. 

Ilham Aliyev also met with the chairman of the National Assembly of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, Nguyen Sinh Hung, and the prime minister, Nguyen Tan Dung.

In keeping with the protocol of a state visit, the Azerbaijani leader visited the National Heroes and Martyrs Monument and also the mausoleum of Ho Chi Minh, in Hanoi, where he laid wreaths.

The heads of more than 50 companies from Azerbaijan, whose interest in Vietnam is understandable, participated in a business forum that took place during the visit. This state with a population of more than 90 million, which is healing the wounds of a many-year-long war of independence and unification of the country, is developing apace at the present time. The country is experiencing a growing demand for oil and gas, which is being supplied by Azerbaijan. At the same time, Vietnam does have its own promising hydrocarbon deposits located on an ocean shelf. Consequently, co-operation can be implemented in extracting these, all the more so since many local specialists in the prospecting, drilling and exploitation of the oil and gas fields received their education in Baku in their time.

President Ilham Aliyev also found time during his visit to meet a large group of Vietnamese graduates from Azerbaijani institutions of higher education. It was noted at this event, which took place in a warm and emotional atmosphere, that Vietnamese citizens who have received their education in Azerbaijan, are now playing an important part in strengthening ties between our countries. 

Ilham Aliyev's visit to Vietnam clearly demonstrates Azerbaijan's intention to expand the geography of its economic, cultural and political ties with South-East Asia, where Vietnam can now be added to the list of traditional partners like South Korea, Indonesia and Malaysia.

The next destination on the Azerbaijani leader's foreign political tour was Shanghai. On 19 May, Ilham Aliyev arrived in the People's Republic of China on a working visit to take part in the fourth summit "Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia". Representatives (mainly leaders) of more than 40 states and international organisations took part in it.

On the run-up to the summit Ilham Aliyev had a meeting with the president of the People's Republic of China [PRC], Xi Jinping, at which bilateral relations in energy, state-of-the-art technologies, infrastructure projects, boosting trade turnover and humanitarian spheres were discussed, and an exchange of opinions also took place on international issues, including the Nagornyy Karabakh conflict.

Welcoming the Azerbaijani leader, PRC President Xi Jinping said, "As a good friend and reliable partner, the Chinese side wholeheartedly rejoices in Azerbaijan's achievements in developing the economy and society over the last few years. I feel sure that under the leadership of Mr President, the Azerbaijani people will continuously aim for new successes in the great feat of national revival and boosting prosperity."

"Azerbaijanis always say," Xi Jinping continued, "that there cannot be friendship without equality. For 22 years now our countries have constantly promoted friendship and co-operation in a spirit of equality, mutual gain and respect. At the present time, we have a very firm basis for political relations, a high level of mutual trust, and we are witnessing the great fruits of practical co-operation. I would especially like to recall your father. The Chinese people regard him with profound respect. The book on respected President Heydar Aliyev and also the collection 'Azerbaijanis Seen Through Chinese Eyes' have been published in both countries and evoked an extensive, favourable response in society."

China attributes great significance to the development of relations with Azerbaijan, the PRC president said, adding: "We approve of and are grateful to you for your resolute support in key issues of importance like Xinjiang and Tibet. Just as before, we shall support the Azerbaijani people's choice of a path favouring development in accordance with specifically national interests.  We support your efforts aimed at defending your sovereignty, independence and economic development. Just as before, we are prepared, along with Azerbaijani partners, to further encourage the on-going development of friendship and co-operation between China and Azerbaijan."

President Ilham Aliyev expressed his gratitude to Xi Jinping for his warm words regarding Azerbaijan, for his assessment of relations between our peoples and states. "I am grateful for the hospitality offered to me and the members of our delegation. Once again I am very pleased to visit your splendid country and see for myself yet again the rapid development and progress being made in the People's Republic of China. I had the opportunity to visit Shanghai nine years ago. At that time, the city made a huge impression on me, but today Shanghai strikes everyone who visits it, with its development, grandeur, the magnificence and scale of the transformations that the Chinese people have achieved over the last few years," Ilham Aliyev said. He said that Azerbaijan was adhering to a policy of co-operation with the People's Republic of China in all directions.

The fourth summit "Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures" (CICA) started its work on 20 May. The PRC president welcomed the heads of the delegations and stressed the importance of focussing on ensuring security throughout the world, having stressed that this is possible thanks to dialogue and many-sided co-operation. Xi Jinping noted that before this the conference had traversed a successful path under Turkey's chairmanship. The PRC president stressed that main subjects under discussion at the summit are issues of international security in the region and the world.

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev made a speech at the conference in which he noted the importance of combating terrorism, ensuring regional, energy, transport and information security and settling "frozen" conflicts. He drew attention to the Armenian terrorist organisations, which, under the leadership of Armenia's state structures, had committed more than 30 acts of terrorism against Azerbaijan resulting in the deaths of more than 2,000 people and also the act of genocide that was perpetrated in Xocali [Khojaly; Nagornyy Karabakh]. As a result of armed aggression by Armenia, Nagornyy Karabakh and the seven districts adjacent to it have been occupied for more than 20 years now. Ethnic cleansing has been carried out there, resulting in approximately one million people becoming refugees and displaced persons. Azerbaijan's president stated that the mediation efforts of the OSCE [Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe] Minsk Group had not brought about peace, since Armenia has no interest in a settlement of the conflict and has set forth its country's stand, which consists of the conflict being settled in keeping with the norms of international law and within the framework of territorial integrity.

Ilham Aliyev noted the role of Azerbaijan in the energy field as well as in reviving the historical Silk Road, important parts of which are the modern port in Alat, which is under construction on the Caspian Sea, and the scheduled opening of the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway at the beginning of next year.

The Azerbaijani leader's speech met with attention, and the positions it contained were reflected in the declaration adopted in relation to the outcome of the summit. A special clause, no. 3.5, was included in it on the Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagornyy Karabakh conflict, in which it states: "We are troubled by the failure to resolve the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan, its continuation as a source of threat to international and regional security. We express support for this conflict to be resolved by peaceful means on the basis of the principles and norms of international law and the decisions and documents adopted within these frameworks. For this purpose we are calling upon the OSCE Minsk Group to multiply its efforts to achieve a settlement of the conflict."

In clause 1.4 of the document it is directly pointed out that: "In accordance with UN statutes and international law, we are stating yet again that we will respect the sovereignty, independence, territorial integrity of one another and the inviolability of borders recognised on an international level." It further points out in clause 2.4: "We stress that separatism and extremism are a threat to the sovereignty, unity, territorial integrity, security and stability of states. We do not support any kind of separatist movements and structures on the territory of another member-country. We also resolutely state that our territories will not be used by any kind of separatist movements and structures. We will not get any kind of relations or communication going with separatists."

The provisions in the document adopted are hardly likely to improve the moods of the Armenians and the forces backing them, but it is impossible to brush off the opinion of several dozen states uniting almost half the planet's population as something insignificant. The format of the "Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia" is developing. At the fourth summit, Kazakhstan's president Nursultan Nazarbayev proposed thinking about transforming it into some kind of Asian variant of the OSCE. This is an issue for the future. Taking into consideration that China, which has the largest population and will soon be the country with the world's major economy, has assumed the chairmanship until 2016, important initiatives aimed at boosting security, trust and co-operation can be expected.