External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj will pay a three-day visit to Azerbaijan starting tomorrow during which she will attend a meeting of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) and hold talks with top leadership of that country.

Swaraj will hold talks with Azerbaijan's Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov and call on President Ilham Aliyev and First Vice-President Mehriban Aliyeva, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said.

Swaraj will also represent India at the mid-term ministerial meeting of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) which will take place on April 5 and 6 in Baku.

The MEA said as a founding member of NAM, India remains committed to the purposes and principles of the movement.

"The External Affairs Minister's participation in the NAM Ministerial Meeting will underline India's continued active and constructive engagement within the movement with a view to further strengthen solidarity and cooperation among its member states," it said.

A range of issues, including ways to boost bilateral cooperation between India and Azerbaijan, are expected to be discussed during her talks with leadership of that country.

Bilateral ties between India and Azerbaijan have grown in many areas, including energy, transportation, and capacity building. India's ONGC-Videsh is an investor in ACG oil fields and Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline.

"The two sides will discuss bilateral, regional and global issues of mutual interest," the ministry said in a statement.

Courtesy: The Pioneer, Wednesday, 04 April 2018 | PTI | New Delhi