By Staff Reporter
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan and Armenia formally established diplomatic relations on Sunday, a notable shift in a relationship long marked by regional tensions, Foreign Office said.
The agreement was sealed through a joint communique exchanged by Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar and his Armenian counterpart, Ararat Mirzoyan, on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit in China.
Until now, the two nations had no formal diplomatic links, with their relationship defined by geopolitical tensions. Pakistan has consistently supported Azerbaijan in its conflict with Armenia over the Nagorno-Karabakh region.
The move follows a phone conversation earlier this week between Dar and Mirzoyan, in which Pakistan agreed to consider establishing ties. That discussion came on the heels of a US-brokered peace deal between Azerbaijan and Armenia.
“Marking a historic step forward, both the leaders [Dar and Mirzoyan] affirmed their commitment to the principles and objectives of [the] United Nations Charter and discussed possible avenues of cooperation, including economy, education, culture, and tourism,” the Foreign Office statement said.
“The two leaders reaffirmed their desire to work closely with each other at bilateral and multilateral fora, to achieve their shared objectives of peace, progress, and prosperity for the peoples of their two countries.”
In a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, Dar expressed satisfaction with the development. “Pleased to sign the joint communique with my Armenian counterpart,” he wrote, echoing the Foreign Office’s emphasis on upholding the UN Charter. He included photos of the two ministers signing and exchanging the document, with their national flags displayed.
The establishment of ties builds on broader regional shifts. Earlier this month, Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif praised US President Donald Trump’s role in facilitating the Armenia-Azerbaijan peace agreement.
“Pakistan welcomes the historic peace agreement signed between the Republic of Azerbaijan and the Republic of Armenia at the White House Summit under the auspices of US President Donald J Trump,” Sharif said in a statement on X.
He congratulated both nations on “charting a course for a peaceful future for their region”. “Pakistan has always stood by the brotherly nation of Azerbaijan and we stand with them at this proud moment of their history.”
Sharif also described the accord as marking “the dawn of a new era of peace, stability, and cooperation in the South Caucasus, a region that has endured decades of conflict and human suffering.”
The peace deal, signed weeks ago during a meeting with Trump, is expected to enhance economic ties between Azerbaijan and Armenia after years of hostilities, analysts say.
Armenia and Azerbaijan have clashed since the late 1980s, when Nagorno-Karabakh, a mountainous area within Azerbaijan but populated mostly by ethnic Armenians, broke away with Armenian backing. Azerbaijan regained full control in 2023, leading nearly all of the territory’s 100,000 ethnic Armenians to flee to Armenia.
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