India and Azerbaijan move to reset ties after Operation Sindoor tensions

Baku: India and Azerbaijan have taken steps to rebuild diplomatic relations following tensions over Baku’s position during Operation Sindoor, with External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar holding talks with Azerbaijan’s top leadership during a one-day visit to the capital, Baku, on Friday.

Jaishankar met Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov, describing his discussions as productive and forward-looking. The visit marked the first bilateral visit to Azerbaijan by an Indian external affairs minister in eight years.

Relations between the two countries deteriorated after Azerbaijan criticised India’s military strikes against terrorist infrastructure in Pakistan during Operation Sindoor in May 2025. Baku’s close relationship with Islamabad, alongside India’s growing defence cooperation with Armenia, has contributed to friction between the two countries.

Despite these differences, both sides signalled a willingness to expand practical cooperation. Discussions covered trade, investment, energy, transport connectivity and regional security. Jaishankar said there was considerable scope to strengthen economic engagement, while both countries agreed to coordinate more closely on the International North-South Transport Corridor, a multimodal transport network connecting India with Iran, Russia and other regional markets.

Energy cooperation also featured prominently in the discussions. Indian companies have maintained commercial interests in Azerbaijan, particularly in the oil sector, while both sides expressed interest in expanding trade and investment into additional areas.

The ministers also discussed terrorism, instability and wider regional developments. Jaishankar welcomed the peace agreement between Azerbaijan and Armenia and reiterated India’s position that disputes should be resolved through dialogue and diplomacy.

The visit follows a meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Aliyev on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit in Bishkek in September. The renewed engagement indicates that both governments are seeking to move beyond recent disagreements, although the visit alone does not establish that all underlying differences have been resolved.