Islamabad / Washington:
Pakistan welcomed a peace agreement for the United States on Saturday between Armenia and Azerbaijan aimed at finishing decades of conflict in the South Caucasus.
On Friday, American President Donald Trump announced the agreement to the White House, saying that the two countries were committed to “stopping all fights forever, to open trade, travel and diplomatic relations and to respect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of each”.
Pakistan’s Foreign Office said in a statement that the “historic moment” reflected “wisdom and sagacity” of the Azerbaijan management in the resolution of the long -standing dispute. Islamabad also praised the role of Trump in “the promotion of conflict resolution and the promotion of peace in various world regions”.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said that the agreement had marked “the dawn of a new era of peace, stability and cooperation in the South Caucasus” and congratulated the Azerbaijani president Ilham Aliyev and the Azerbaijani people. He also praised Washington’s “facilitation role” in securing a regulation that could open “new avenues for trade, connectivity and regional integration”.
Trump stood alongside Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan while the two leaders signed a “joint declaration” committing to ending hostilities and normalizing links. The agreement includes the creation of a public transport corridor through Armenia connecting Azerbaijan to its exclave by Nakhchivan. The United States will have development rights for the route, which the White House has nicknamed “the Trump itinerary for international peace and prosperity”.
Aliyev called the “historic” signature and said he and Pashinyan would name Trump jointly for the Nobel Peace Prize. Pashinyan described the agreement as a “breakthrough” which “would open a new era” for the region, creating Trump as the “peacemaker” behind him.
The agreement follows decades of hostility between Armenia with Christian majority and Azerbaijan with a Muslim majority, which fought two wars in the contested region of Karabakh. Azerbaijan took over the territory in an offensive in 2023, triggering more than 100,000 Ethnic Armenians to flee from Armenia.
Regional and international powers have hosted the agreement. Turkey welcomed “progress towards sustainable peace”, the European Union described it as a way to “sustainable peace” in the Caucasus, and Great Britain praised the “daring measures” taken in Washington.
Iran, which has long opposed the Nakhchivan corridor about the concerns that it could limit its access to the Caucasus, also praised the agreement but warned against the “negative consequences of foreign intervention” near its borders.
While the text of the agreement was finalized in March, the signature was delayed by Baku’s requests that Armenia changed its constitution to abandon the territorial complaints on Karabakh. Pashinyan promised a referendum in 2027 on constitutional changes, a decision that remains politically controversial in Armenia.
A White House official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that Armenia’s gain in the agreement was “a huge strategic trading partner, probably the most enormous and strategic in world history: the United States of America”, adding that “losers here are China, Russia and Iran”.
