BAKU, Azerbaijan, September 2. As the first step to laying the foundation of global energy security, US President Joe Biden must immediately invite the leader of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev to the White House, CEO of Caspian Group Holding Rob Sobhani wrote in his article, published in The Washington Times, Trend reports.
"There is indeed a precedent for such engagement between the US and Azerbaijan. When President Bill Clinton met with Heydar Aliyev, the former President of Azerbaijan, at the White House in 1997, he provided America's full diplomatic, economic, and political support to Azerbaijan to build the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline. This historic meeting cemented the shared US–Azerbaijan goal of uninterrupted exploration, development, and transportation of Caspian oil and gas to markets in Europe and beyond," the author wrote.
In his opinion, one of the main reasons why President Biden should invite President Ilham Aliyev for a working visit is to demonstrate American resolve to help build the Trans-Caspian pipeline from Turkmenistan to Europe via Azerbaijan.
As the article noted, there are other national security issues why this US-Azerbaijan summit must happen. A Biden-Aliyev meeting will send a very powerful message that the US is not only serious about building a Trans-Caspian pipeline, but will provide its full financial, diplomatic, and political support.
According to Sobhani, yet another major reason why the mentioned meeting should take place is Washington's commitment to the peaceful resolution of the situation on the South Caucasus.
"Now that Azerbaijan has liberated its territories from Armenian occupation, President Ilham Aliyev has made it very clear that a lasting and permanent peace agreement must take place between the two nations. This process can start during the US-Azerbaijan summit whereby a "peace-pipeline" between Azerbaijan and energy-poor Armenia can be announced," the article said.
One final but very important reason to invite President Ilham Aliyev to the White House is to highlight the role Azerbaijan can play as a model in the Muslim world for religious tolerance. During their summit, President Biden can single out Azerbaijan as the model of a Muslim nation whose multi-cultural fabric is anathema to the hate being exported by Muslim extremists.