One has heard about friends with profit. But in the case of India, there are opponents with profit. We are talking about Azerbaijan and Türkiye – two countries that have focused the role in the latest struggle between India and Pakistan. While Türkiye has been the center of attention for Turkish -made drones, which used Pakistan, Azerbaijan and South Caucasian angles focus more.
According to data from the Ministry of External Affairs (Mea), India was the third largest destination for Azerbaijan’s crude oil in 2023, which was 7.6% of the total crude oil exports 7.6% in $ 1.227 billion. “India’s bilateral trade with Azerbaijan has increased from $ 50 million in 2005 to $ 1.435 billion in 2023, India has become Azerbaijan’s seventh largest trading partner. During the year, India’s imports from Azerbaijan were $ 1.235 billion and export $ 201 million.” Therefore, depending on these estimates, Azerbaijan stands to get more benefits than its bilateral connection with India. So, what does Baku’s enmity tell after starting India’s operation vermilion?
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‘in solidarity’
Eagerly, a statement by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the country condemned India’s military attacks against Pakistan in response to a terrorist attack in Pahgam on 22 April. “We condemn military attacks on Pakistan’s Islamic Republic, resulting in many citizens’ deaths. Quick recovery to the injured.”
Not only did Azerbaijan express his support for Pakistan, but its state-margin media has spewed poison in India since the later military reaction. Here are some samples: Vyugar vyugarly, editor-in-chief Idman TV, Written a piece for Expansion of intelligence – A publication near the Ministry of Defense of the country – in which he presented a wrong, wrong history of the origin of Kashmir struggle. “Unexpectedly, the fascist symbol of the swastika could only be borrowed from Indian culture,” he wrote in the article. In the same article, he goes on allegations of ‘water terrorism’ levels by India, saying that India engineed as an excuse to remove the Pahgam attacks with the Indus Water Treaty. In another piece In the same publication, Farahad Madov, the political analyst and head of the South Caucasus Research Center, said, “Prime Minister Modi’s fascist-smelling rule is strengthening power within the country, and for a growing power, war becomes a major element in the top level transition of global states.”
Azeri edition of conflict
there is Still another gem From the same site: “India, on the other hand, found itself in a very uncomfortable, even derogatory position, despite the massive investment in its defense sector. Loss of fighter aircraft, shock to their Air Force’s reputation, and the failure of its announced strategy to stop Pakistan has made serious doubts to new people for new years.”
Azerbaijan Media has also been giving fake news about the struggle in the last three days, parroting the official Pakistani version of the conflict, even without mentioning the official Indian version, if only for the integrity of journalism. The version is being run by Azari Analyzer and columnist It is that India attacked civilian sites in Pakistan and as a result, Pakistan responded to provoking and aggression with its operation Byan-ul-Marsos.
Amidst all this, someone must remember that Azerbaijan Media is state-controlled.
History of India-Azerbaijan relations
For the country already benefiting from its relations with India, Azerbaijan’s operation is a response to Sindoor. After its emergence as a sovereign state, Azerbaijan kept away from India. Instead, it established diplomatic relations with Pakistan and quickly came close to it. However, this is not a barrier to make good relations with India. Eventually, even fellow CIS (Commonwealth of Independent States) and culturally close Turkic states, such as Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan, enjoy close relations with Pakistan, but did not prevent them from developing a mutually profitable relations with India.
India established diplomatic relations with Azerbaijan in February 1992, yet the Indian diplomatic mission in Baku was opened only in March 1999. Azerbaijan took more time to open his diplomatic mission in Delhi – in 2004. It also took time to appoint an ambassador. Twenty years later, there have been no major high-profile bilateral trips between the two sides at the state or government heads.
Armenia, thorn in meat
Funny, as trade and tourism between the two countries, apathy turned to illegality. India’s relations with Armenia at the center of this lie, the staunch rival of Azerbaijan. Nagorno -Karbakh elections in the 2020 war between the two South Caucasian countries – which is geographically geographically within the boundaries of Azerbaijan, but an ethnic Armenian population – the equation changed. With military help and support from Türkiye, Azerbaijan chose the Conclave after almost two decades of efforts. In this war, not only Pakistan supported Azerbaijan, but reports show that its mercenaries fought for Azerbaijan.
Baku’s victory, Azerbaijan, Pakistan and Turkey built a close block as ‘three brothers’. He promised to support each other on his respective positions on Karbakh, Kashmir and Northern Cyprus. There is no doubt, during Operation Sindoor, Baku, who had previously condemned the Pahalgam terror attacks, saw himself as returning the Ehsan received from Islamabad in 2020. There is no doubt that Azerbaijan saw Karbakh parallel to Karbakh in Pakistan. India, however, now took a neutral stand in that war, unlike Azerbaijan.
By the time the Nagorno-Karabakh war began in 2020, India had already signed its first agreement with Armenia for the distribution of radars that detect Swati weapons. Soon, tension began in Baku. Since then, India has increased the sales of military hardware for Armenia, including Pinaka Multi -Barel Rocket Launcher and Akash -1S missile defense system. Along with this, Baku has continued to purchase arms from both Türkiye and Pakistan, but it is telling about Armenia’s weapons from India.
‘We will sit and wait’
Exactly a year ago, Azeri President, Ilhhh Aliyev, asked India to stay away from the supply of defense equipment to Armenia. Citing concerns over Azerbaijan’s national security, Aliyev had said, “This is a matter of our national security. We can sit and not wait, given how France, India and Greece are giving weapons to Armenia against us and are openly, protesting.” These warnings and alarms have continued to plague the Azerbaijan strategic community.
But here is contradiction: in every opinion or analytical piece, Azerbaijan analysts do not refrain from trampling India’s defense products. So, then, why anger and fear-humming? It is believed that ‘ineffective’ defense systems stop a country that claims that it is very rich, and military is superior? Here, we are not even raising shameful questions about why Azerbaijan had expressed interest in buying weapons from India late last year.
Why Akash missiles have raised the alarm
In addition, doubts about Jerevan’s objectives in their defense deals with India have also been imposed for defensive systems like Akash -1. “The fact is that Armenia is investing heavily in a system that India itself is preparing to raise strategic questions about the objectives behind the efficacy of Akash -1 and the purchase of Yerevan,” Said a piece in Azernews As yesterday, news came that Armenia was soon preparing to get the second batch of Akash-1S Surface-to-Air Missile System from India. The irony here is that the article quoted the retired Brigadier General Yasel Karoz, who is a pre-Turki military attachment, which was posted in Baku, saying that the purchase sends “problematic signs during sensitive peace talks”. Karaz says, “This [the Akash-1S system] In the case of protecting our country, not in an aggressive sense, but in a defensive sense strengthens and strengthens the military balance. This condition, of course, presents the ineffective peace process with Azerbaijan with this and similar Ordnance activities. “But, the question is, in fact a ‘defense’ system – and not a ‘aggressive’, as Karauz has stressed himself – the” peace process “installed by Armenia is ineffective?
It is also the fact that Azerbaijan has long demanded the right to pass his landlancing Nakhivan Exclave, which has separated from the Armenian region. Can it happen if Azerbaijan is preparing for another confrontation with his neighbor and has been disappointed in arms exports from India?
Whatever the reason, the popular azeri frustration with India is clear as the day.
(The author is a journalist and political analyst)
Disclaimer: These are the personal opinions of the author
