By the Service of the Secretary of the Security Council of the republic of Azerbaijan
On December 21, the secretary of the Security Council of the Republic of Azerbaijan Colonel-general Ramil Usubov met with Adviser to the National Security Council of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan Hamdullah Mohib, Head of the Presidential Administration Mohammad Shakir Kargar, and Director-General of the National Security Department Lieutenant General Ahmad Ziya Saraj. Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan to Azerbaijan Amanullah Jeyhun also attended the meeting.
During the meeting, Mr. Ramil Usubov touched upon the bilateral cooperation between Azerbaijan and Afghanistan and gave detailed information on the measures taken under the leadership of His Excellency Mr. Ilham Aliyev, the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, to ensure national security in our country. He noted that the measures taken on civil society building, democratization, protection of human rights and freedoms, sustainability of internal stability, unity of people and government ensured the national interests in the field of state and public security in the country.
He stressed that as a result of effective reforms, Azerbaijan has become a major economic power in the region, one of Europe's main energy suppliers, and the steady growth of foreign currency reserves is important in ensuring the country's national interests in economic security. Touching upon social security issues, R. Usubov noted that necessary measures were taken to improve the living conditions of the population, effective social reforms were implemented, and rare in the world the sustainable social support packages were realized, which include more than 70 percent of the citizens.
He noted that Azerbaijan's transition from a balanced to a fully independent policy, the establishment of a format of bilateral and multilateral cooperation with countries with conflicting interests in the region is a priority in the foreign policy of our country. Speaking about the measures taken to ensure military security, R. Usubov stressed that building modern and professional army, providing high level and most modern military equipment, creating the defense industry and constantly improving it, conditioned the military victory of the Azerbaijan people in the Patriotic War.
Noting that Afghanistan has always supported Azerbaijan's position based on international law, Usubov stressed that the political and moral support of the brotherly country was clearly demonstrated during the 44-day war, and the Azerbaijani people appreciated this support. The guests thanked for the attention and the conditions created for discussions on topical issues in the field of protection of security interests of Azerbaijan and Afghanistan. They noted the importance of expanding cooperation between the relevant authorities of the two countries in combating common threats in order to create favorable conditions for the policy of stability, security and development pursued under the leadership of our heads of state.
The sides exchanged views on other issues of mutual interest.