Baku, Azerbaijan, April 5
Trend:
The Mid-term Ministerial Meeting of the Non-Aligned Movement in Baku will be a next step forward in the common endeavor of building a world of justice, prosperity, peace and security based on norms and principles of international law, Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov said.
He made the remarks addressing the Mid-Term Ministerial Conference of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), “Promoting international peace and security for sustainable development” in Baku April 5.
He added that the meeting will make a bridge to the Azerbaijani Chairmanship to NAM for the upcoming three years and will set an important benchmark for next summit to be held in Baku next year.
The minister said that today's meeting today is taking place in an important period when the international community, as well as Non-Aligned Countries encounters the new emerging challenges and opportunities for the peace, security and sustainable development.
"The future will present as many challenges and opportunities as the past and the Movement must continue to remain cohesive in order to address them. All these bring about new tasks in our joint endeavor of the development and re-emphasize the importance of building a greater solidarity, dialogue and cooperation within the Movement," he said.
As an important forum, according to the minister, NAM strives to contribute to the world peace and security, abiding by its founding principles and purposes, which are respect for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all nations, non-intervention into the internal affairs of another country, refraining from acts or threats of aggression and use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any country.
"Respect for the rule of law at the national and international levels is necessary for maintaining international peace and security and achieving the goals of economic and social development. Therefore, we should avoid selective approaches and double-standards towards the international law," the minister said.
The UN Member States, in particular the Member States of the UN Security Council, should renew their commitment to respect, defend, preserve and promote the UN Charter and international law, with the aim of making further progress to achieving full respect for international law in inter-state relations, according to him.
The minister emphasized that Azerbaijan recognizes the leading role of the United Nations, first of all, in establishing and maintaining the international peace and security, as well as in sustainable development, social and human rights issues.
"To that end, Azerbaijan supports the idea of carrying out the reforms in the UN Security Council and increasing the role of the UN General Assembly so as the organization could work in more efficient and effective manner and be able to tackle the problems and challenges of the modern world," he said.
Mammadyarov said that wars and armed conflicts in various parts of the world lead to political instability in some regions, large-scale displacement and unprecedented humanitarian crisis. These conflicts poses threat not only to particular regions, but also to the international security.
"We are confident that the outcomes of the Baku NAM Mid-Term Ministerial Meeting on regional and sub-regional issues will contribute to the settlement of the security problems and strengthen international and regional peace and security," he said.
Regarding the domain of economic and social development on the agenda, he said that the current international economic situation continues to present opportunities, at the same time challenges and risks to the developing countries.
"Today, when we still experience the impacts of global economic slowdown, energy, transportation and other interrelated components of connectivity are becoming more promising for economic and trade growth of our countries. Therefore, it is important to highlight the development of transport and connectivity issues in general among priority areas, as an essential prerequisite for economic growth and development," he said.
Mammadyarov emphasized that Azerbaijan in collaboration with regional and international partners has contributed to regional cooperation by initiating and implementing energy and transport projects.
"Azerbaijan has become an important partner in ensuring the energy security of the wider region through initiating and implementing sustainable energy projects. Connected the Caspian, Black and Mediterranean seas, we created a diversified pipeline infrastructure. Realization of these energy projects will diversify the energy sources, as well as enhance security of energy supply and transportation within the region and beyond," he said.
Mammadyarov further added that over the past years Azerbaijan has implemented large-scale infrastructure projects in the development of the transport connectivity not only inside the country, but also across the region.
"In line with that the Government of Azerbaijan takes significant steps for the development of regional and trans-regional multi-modal transport corridors in partnership with other interested and neighboring States along the East-West, North-South and South-West axes which will create favorable conditions for the full-scale economic cooperation and development of trade, based on unhindered and safe movement of goods," he said.
The minister voiced hope that the Baku meeting and the provisions of the Final Document of the Baku Ministerial Meeting on global and regional issues, as well as development, social and human rights matters will contribute to international security, the stimulation of regional and international cooperation and taking practical steps in economic integration of Non-Aligned Countries.
Mid-Term Ministerial Conference of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), titled “Promoting international peace and security for sustainable development”, kicked off in Baku April 5.
NAM includes 120 states. Seventeen states and 10 international organizations have an observer status in NAM. NAM Mid-Term Ministerial Conference, to be held in Baku, is expected to be attended by 800 participants.
In 2019, the Republic of Azerbaijan will host the 18th Summit of the NAM and will be chairing NAM in 2019-2022.