Azerbaijan, Baku, Oct.19 / Trend, E.Mehdiyev /
Much has been done over the past decade within the context of annual bilateral security dialogue between Azerbaijan and the US, Deputy U.S. Ambassador to Azerbaijan, Adam Sterling said during his speech at the International Conference "Role of Azerbaijan-U.S. cooperation on ensuring peace and security in the region" in Baku on Friday.
He said these dialogues seek to identify common interests.
"We have regular engagements of the militaries, we are strengthening the ability of our armed forces to train and appoint together in multilateral settings, most notably in ISAF of NATO in Afghanistan," Sterling said.
He said these activities have strengthened the US-Azerbaijan partnership.
"As I said one of the main challenges over which we have worked together over the past decade is Afghanistan. Of course, our forces served together in Afghanistan. But beyond the appointment of troops together, Azerbaijan is also providing a key transit corridor for NATO for transition to Afghanistan," Sterling said.
NATO and Azerbaijan are actively cooperating in the field of democratic, institutional and military reforms, as well as conducting practical cooperation in many areas. The programme of cooperation between Azerbaijan and NATO is set out in the Individual Partnership Action Plan (IPAP) of Azerbaijan.
Azerbaijan seeks to achieve the Euro-Atlantic norms and standards and move closer to Euro-Atlantic institutions. In this regard, support for security sector reform and creation of the institution of democracy are the key elements of cooperation between NATO and Azerbaijan.
Besides the reforms, another important area of cooperation is its support to Azerbaijan in the conduct of NATO-led operations. Currently, Azerbaijan sent peacekeepers to the International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan. In the past, the country has also actively supported operations in Kosovo.