Armenia blocks Pakistan's observer bid in CSTO Parliamentary Assembly

PanARMENIAN.Net - The issue of granting observer status to Pakistan in the Parliamentary Assembly of the Collective Security Treaty Organization will be removed from the agenda of the CSTO Counsil's meeting thanks to the efforts of the Armenian delegation, deputy parliament speaker Eduard Sharmazanov said on Thursday, November 24.

The Armenian side has sent a letter to the chairman of the Russian State Duma Vyacheslav Volodin, outlining its position, the speaker said.

Sharmazanov explained Yerevan's stance citing Islamabad's failure to recognize Armenia's independence. In addition, he said, Pakistan unreservedly supports the Azerbaijani side in the Nagorno Karabakh settlement process.

"And such a position contradicts the approach of both the OSCE Minsk Group and the CSTO," said Sharmazanov, according to Sputnik.

The CSTO Council session is underway in Saint Petersburg.

Earlier, Pakistan expressed a hope to sign an agreement on a free trade area with the Eurasian Economic Union, of which Armenia is a member. But Armenia’s Foreign Ministry told PanARMENIAN.Net back in June that the deal between the EEU and any other country is possible only if all the member states give consent.

Armenia has no relations with Pakistan as such, for the latter is the only country to not recognize Armenia as a state.