Occupation of Azerbaijani territories by Armenia condemned

A parliamentary panel on Thursday condemned the occupation of Azerbaijani territories by Armenia and the genocide against civilian population committed by Armenian armed forces in Azerbaijani town of Khojaly around 25 years ago.
The National Assembly Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, which met with Awais Ahmad Khan Leghari in chair, adopted a unanimous resolution, condemning the Armenian forces atrocities against the people of Khojaly, an Azerbaijani town, on February 26, 1992.
"The Committee re-affirms the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Republic of Azerbaijan within its internationally recognised borders," stated the resolution.
The Committee also demanded implementation of resolutions of the UN Security Council and the UN General Assembly on immediate, complete and unconditional withdrawal of all Armenian forces from all the occupied territories of Azerbaijan and calls upon the international community and international organisations to urge Armenia for the implementation of these decisions.
"The committee supports the efforts of the Republic of Azerbaijan to resolve the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict by peaceful means," the resolution further added. The resolution was adopted following the chairman pointed out that Azerbaijan has an open stance on Kashmir and it is also necessary to give a positive gesture before the upcoming visit of Azerbaijani president scheduled for next month. Earlier, the committee was briefed by representatives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Cabinet Division and Ministry of Law and Justice on the ratification of International Treaties Bill, 2013, moved by Dr Shireen Mazari, who also formally introduced the bill with its salient features to the committee for further discussion.
The chairman asked the respective ministries and divisions to prepare more comprehensive briefing regarding the proposed bill in the next meeting and also send their inputs in-writing to the committee for perusal of the committee members. On the agenda item about budgetary proposals relating to PSDP for the financial year 2017-18 to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the chairman remarked that since the PC-II is not part of the information provided by the ministry, therefore, consideration on this agenda item cannot proceed unless it is provided in the next meeting for formal consideration and approval.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is seeking Rs500 million for construction of a state guesthouse in Islamabad which is in planning stage and the committee was told that the said amount has been allocated during the current fiscal year and that the PC-II is being prepared by Capital Development Authority (CDA). The members who attended the meeting included Sahibzada Mohammad Nazeer Sultan, Mian Najeebuddin Awaisi, Rana Mohammad Afzal Khan, Dr Nafisa Shah, Makhdoom Shah Mahmood Qureshi, Dr Shireen Mazari, Ghous Bux Khan Maher and senior officers of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Cabinet Division and Ministry of Law and Justice also attended the meeting.