One Belt, One Route through the South Caucasus

An international forum with the theme "Towards a New World Order" was held at ADA University on April 9th. Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev participated in the event and delivered a significant address highlighting recent developments in political and transport sectors. In his speech, President Aliyev emphasized the importance of the Declaration on Strategic Partnership between China and Azerbaijan, which was adopted last year following meetings with President Xi Jinping. He stressed this partnership's profound significance for Azerbaijan's national interests.
The President of Azerbaijan made notable remarks about China's "One Belt, One Road" megaproject, pointing out that Azerbaijan has consistently supported this initiative not just through public statements but through direct investments. He highlighted that Azerbaijan has built the largest seaport on the Caspian coast and developed significant shipbuilding capacity, with six ships currently under construction at the country's fully operational shipyard. The President also discussed Azerbaijan's transportation infrastructure improvements, including railway modernization and additional funding to increase the capacity of the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway in Georgia. This railway's throughput capacity has now reached 5 million tonnes. Aliyev mentioned that some cargo from China is expected to be routed through Zangezur via the Zangilan railway.
GSR sought commentary from Rizvan Huseynov, Director of the Centre for Caucasus History and an Azerbaijani expert on Caucasus geopolitics.
Rizvan Huseynov: "The speech of the President of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev, sheds light on the key priorities of modern Azerbaijani foreign and domestic policy, emphasizing the country's strategic independence and its growing role in the Eurasian space. Special attention in the speech is given to economic sovereignty, transport integration, and deepening partnership with China in political, technological, and defense spheres.
President Aliyev attaches particular importance to the signing of the Declaration on Strategic Partnership between Azerbaijan and China. This document establishes a new level of trust and coordination between the two countries. It is not just a diplomatic gesture, but a platform for long-term interaction in priority sectors such as energy, transport, manufacturing, and defense.
Aliyev emphasized unwavering support for the 'One Belt, One Road' initiative, noting that Baku not only rhetorically approves it but actively invests in infrastructure ensuring the implementation of the project. The largest port on the Caspian Sea, the development of shipbuilding, modernization of railways, including investments in the Georgian part of Baku-Tbilisi-Kars, all these investments confirm Azerbaijan's desire to secure its role as a key logistics hub between East and West.
An interesting emphasis was the mention of the route through Zangezur. Azerbaijan aims to develop alternative transport corridors, including the potential Zangezur highway, which could become a crucial link in the route of goods from China to Europe.
In his speech, President Aliyev admitted that he was surprised when informed about the comments made by the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, in Uzbekistan at the summit of Central Asian leaders and the European Commission. She spoke about opening borders between Azerbaijan and Armenia, as well as between Armenia and Turkey, to facilitate the development of the Middle Corridor, which in Europe is called the 'Global Gateway'. According to him, this seemed very strange, since the corridor already exists, but Armenia is not participating in it. He expressed understanding of the feelings of European bureaucrats towards Armenia but emphasized that one cannot ignore the geographical map.
He also expressed bewilderment that not a word was said about Georgia in the speech. He called such an attitude unfair and characterized the behavior of the European Commission regarding internal processes in Georgia as absolutely unacceptable. In conclusion, he noted that in light of what is happening, it is necessary to strengthen the partnership between Georgia and Azerbaijan.
Ilham Aliyev's speech is not just a review of current successes. It is a strategic statement about a new paradigm of Azerbaijan's foreign economic policy. The country demonstrates financial independence, reorientation toward the East, expansion of technological cooperation, and ambitions to become a logistics center of Eurasia. In this context, partnership with China plays a key role, transforming Azerbaijan into an important ally of Beijing in implementing the 'One Belt, One Road' initiative."
GSR

SR-CENTER.INFO