YEREVAN (Armradio) — Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan hosted the delegation led by the President of the Republic of Iraq, Abd Al-Latif Jamal Rashid, who arrived in Armenia on an official visit.
“Dear Mr. President, I am happy to welcome you and the delegation led by you to the Republic of Armenia. Your visit is significant and essentially historical because you are the first president of Iraq to visit the Republic of Armenia,” PM Pashinyan said welcoming Abd Al-Latif Jamal Rashid.
“There are rich cultural and historical ties between our countries, and I am happy to note that there is also a certain activeness when it comes to economic ties. I hope that economic cooperation will deepen during your visit. Of course, the situation in the world and in the region is quite complicated now, and I will be happy to hear your assessments regarding the general situation and solutions,” he added.
Pm Pashinyan voiced hope that the mutual visits of the high-ranking officials of the two countries would become more frequent after the first historic visit.
The President of the Republic of Iraq, in turn, expressed gratitude for the warm welcome.
Referring to his meeting in Armenia, Abd Al-Latif Jamal Rashid said: “During the meeting with the President, we discussed the relations between the two countries in various fields and talked about the current situation in Iraq, we touched on the bilateral cooperation in the political, economic, and trade spheres. We hope that it will be further strengthened.”
The Prime Minister of Armenia and the President of Iraq discussed issues related to cooperation in the fields of economy, trade, high technologies, energy, water resources, and tourism.
Issues related to regional security and stability, the process of normalization of Armenia-Azerbaijan relations were addressed.
Prime Minister Pashinyan presented the humanitarian problems of more than 100,000 forcibly displaced persons in Nagorno-Karabakh as a result of Azerbaijan’s ethnic cleansing policy and the steps taken by the Armenian government to overcome them.
Armenian President Presents Crossroads of Peace Project to Iraqi Counterpart
President Vahagn Khachaturyan said he presented to his Iraqi counterpart Abdul Latif Rashid the Crossroads of Peace project at their meeting on November 22 in Yerevan.
Speaking at a joint press conference with the Iraqi president, the Armenian president said they discussed issues of partnership around regional and international matters.
“We emphasized the need for dialogue around the regional security environment and joining efforts in conditions of the processes taking place in the international arena and the resulting challenges. I presented to my respected counterpart the Crossroads of Peace project developed by the Armenian government,” Khachaturyan said.
He said that Armenia is interested in the unblocking of regional economic and transport connections based on the principles of sovereignty, equality, jurisdiction and reciprocity.
During the meeting the presidents also attached importance to strengthening cooperation as part of fighting all manifestations of international terrorism, and making joint efforts aimed at countering illegal migration.
The Crossroads of Peace project is about creating new road, rail, airways, pipelines, cables and power lines infrastructures or improving the scope and quality of the existing ones, that will make it possible to establish a seamless connection between the Persian Gulf, the Gulf of Oman, the Black Sea, the Caspian Sea and the Mediterranean Sea via a consolidated, regional railway network and via the North-South and East-West roads.
