“Azerbaijan’s position on Kashmir did not change in the last 30 years, did not change at all. It stays the same. India and Pakistan should solve this issue peacefully with due respect to norms and principles of international law and UN Security Council resolutions. That is our principal position. It did not change for three decades,” said Shikhaliyev, who was Azerbaijan’s Ambassador in India till November.

Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev had earlier expressed support for Pakistan on the Kashmir issue during a 2020 meeting with Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan.

“I would like to underline that during the meeting with the prime minister of Pakistan Imran Khan in Davos on January 21, 2020, president of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev noted that Azerbaijan constantly supports Pakistan in Jammu and Kashmir issue,” said a spokesperson for the Azerbaijan foreign ministry at the time.

Azerbaijan’s close political relationship with Turkey and Pakistan has led to some concern in India. Their strengthening partnership, especially after Azerbaijan’s military triumph over its neighbour Armenia, has led to fears about their ability to assist Pakistan on the Kashmir issue.

India has built a close relationship with Armenia in recent years. Starting in 2020, India’s government and private defence players have made high-profile arms sales to the Eurasian country including weapons locating radar systems, multi-barrel rocket launchers and ammunition. Media reports indicate that Armenia is also interested in purchasing loitering munitions and drones from India.

This has come even as Armenia and Azerbaijan have been embroiled in a decades long conflict over the territory of Nagorno-Karabakh which spilled into open hostilities in 2020. Azerbaijan inflicted a crushing victory on Armenia in that conflict and finally took over the territory entirely in 2023.

“I also want to say that the government of India should reconsider selling and weaponizing Armenia because this is nourishing the revanchist forces in Armenia and that is detrimental to the fragile peace that we have in the region,” said Shikhaliyev.

India’s weapons supply to Armenia has reportedly caused tensions between the two countries in the past. According to news reports in Azerbaijan’s media, the country’s government expressed its concerns to New Delhi after reports surfaced in July this year of Indian weapons reaching Armenia through Iran. Azerbaijan’s media reported that Hikmet Hajiyev, a foreign policy adviser to the country’s President, met with the Indian Ambassador.

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Published: 20 Dec 2023, 10:27 PM IST