ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif Saturday thanked Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev for approving a five-year tax exemption on the import of rice from Pakistan. “I am thankful to H E Ilham Aliyev, President of Azerbaijan, for approving the tax exemption on the import of Pakistani rice for five years.

Our two brotherly countries will work to promote economic cooperation and connectivity through road, rail, and Gwadar Port,” the prime minister wrote on Twitter.

The prime minister’s tweet came in response to the Azeri president’s remarks that the decision to import rice from Pakistan with a tax exemption of five years was the outcome of his meetings with Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif held in the last couple of months.

Aliyev, addressing an international conference at ADA University, Baku, the other day, said during these meetings, they discussed the agenda of their bilateral relations.

PM meets Azeri president; discusses bilateral ties

The president of Azerbaijan was responding to questions raised by Executive Director of Center for Global and Strategic Studies of Pakistan Khalid Taimur Akram, as a participant.

The president said he discussed with Prime Minister Shehbaz, the prospects of further intensifying the bilateral economic and trade cooperation and the decision over special regulations for rice from Pakistan, was a reflection of that.

“Why should we buy rice from some other place if we have high-quality rice in the brotherly country? So, that decision was clearly based on our brotherly relations,” the Azeri media quoted the president as saying.