Azerbaijan, Baku, June 9 / Trend corr. E.Ostapenko/
Joint military operations in Afghanistan and experience gained by Azerbaijan can be used as a catalyst to speed up the modernization of the Azerbaijani armed forces, NATO Secretary General's new Special Representative for the South Caucasus, James Appathurai said.
"The lessons learned which these [Azerbaijani] soldiers bring home after their deployment, are very valuable. They can be used as a catalyst to speed up the modernization of the Azerbaijani armed forces", Appathurai said in an Interview with Trend on the eve of his visit.
Appathurai's first two-day visit to Azerbaijan as the NATO Special Representative will start on Thursday. One of the issues on the agenda will be discussion of the main areas of cooperation.
"I am coming to Azerbaijan to get acquainted with my interlocutors, to understand better the Azerbaijani perspective on key security issues, and to discuss the various strands of ongoing NATO-Azerbaijan cooperation," Appathurai said.
Speaking about military cooperation, Appathurai stressed the importance of joint efforts in the ISAF operation in Afghanistan.
"Azerbaijan units are serving since a number of years in Afghanistan with units of NATO nations in NATO's most important operation - ISAF," he said. "Azerbaijani soldiers are cooperating every day with their Turkish colleagues as part of an infantry company that is performing important duties in and around Kabul."
The international coalition forces have been deployed in the country since 2001 when the U.S. began its war against international terrorism. The coalition includes 47 countries, 19 of which are not NATO members.
Appathurai asessed military cooperation between NATO and Azerbaijan as substantial, continuing at a steady pace.
An important aspect of this cooperation evolves around standardization and enhancing interoperability between selected Azerbaijani units on the one hand and units from NATO Allies and other partners on the other hand, he said.
"NATO defence planners work together with the Azerbaijani Ministry of Defence," Appathurai said. "Together, they focus for instance on work required to ensure Azerbaijan's peacekeeping battalion can communicate and work with units from other nations."
According to Appathurai, NATO experts also support the efforts by the Ministry of Defence of Azerbaijan to improve the military education and training programmes, using the experience of various NATO nations.
Appathurai's first visit to Azerbaijan was scheduled for March, but cancelled due to the unforeseen developments in Libya and NATO's role in implementing the military aspects of the UN Security Council Resolutions to protect civilians in Libya.
During his visit to Baku Appathurai will be accompanied by Steffen Elgersma, Euro-Atlantic Partners Integration and Partnership Directorate and Zbigniew Rybacki, NATO Liaison Officer in the Caucasus, Romanian Embassy in Baku said earlier. The Embassy represents NATO in Azerbaijan.
The meetings with participation of Appathurai are planned to be held at the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry, the Ministry of Emergency Situations, the State Border Service and the Parliament.