Rebuilding ties: On India engaging with Turkiye and Azerbaijan

New Delhi’s caller moves to re-engage diplomatically and clasp Foreign Office Consultations with diplomats successful Turkiye and Azerbaijan is simply a sizeable displacement successful the government’s policy, particularly implicit the past year. Since the India-Pakistan struggle and Operation Sindoor successful May 2025, the authorities had expressed its choler not conscionable astatine Pakistan, but astatine countries that were seen arsenic supportive of Pakistan, diplomatically oregon militarily during the conflict. In particular, the Ministry of External Affairs had expressed its disappointment with statements made by Turkiye, Azerbaijan and Malaysia, that questioned the government’s determination to motorboat strikes connected panic sites successful Pakistan aft the Pahalgam panic attacks. During briefings astir Operation Sindoor, arsenic the 96-hour subject struggle from May 7-10 was named, the authorities near retired envoys from countries that it felt had not expressed solidarity with India. In a subject briefing successful July, the lawman main of service unit said India had had to contend with astatine slightest 3 adversaries connected its borderline with Pakistan, including Türkiye. Azerbaijan excessively was believed to person helped Pakistan with technological support. Trade and tourism to Turkiye and Azerbaijan dropped importantly for respective months, arsenic calls to boycott them went retired from influential accounts. During its evacuation of Indians from Iran aft US-Israel airstrikes connected atomic installations successful June 2025, the MEA pointedly told those heading retired by onshore routes to usage Armenia and Turkmenistan, not either Turkiye oregon Azerbaijan. In addition, overseas argumentation commentary suggested that India was gathering an confederation of India, Armenia, Greece arsenic a antagonistic to their age-old rivals Pakistan, Azerbaijan and Turkiye, who had already formed a beardown trilateral grouping. Given the heated rhetoric, and the frost successful diplomatic ties, the determination to nonstop Secretary West successful the MEA, Sibi George, to Baku to revive Foreign bureau consultations with Azerbaijani counterparts past week, and to invitation the Turkish Deputy Foreign Minister to Delhi this week, are important diplomatic moves that bespeak that the governments successful Baku and Ankara excessively consciousness that amended bilateral relations are successful their interests.

In a satellite much fraught with conflicts that accelerated spiral retired of control, it is indispensable for New Delhi to prime its diplomatic battles much carefully. The speedy escalation from authorities demarches to online outrage and calls for boycotts, person successful the past fewer years had a detrimental interaction connected bilateral ties with adjacent friends and neighbours arsenic well. With countries that are adversaries, arsenic some Turkiye and Azerbaijan person been, fixed their closeness to Pakistan, and positions connected the Kashmir dispute, New Delhi indispensable see its options with little emotion and much pragmatism. India has traditionally managed relations betwixt sparring rivals without allowing itself to beryllium hyphenated with Pakistan, oregon by falling into multilateral “camps”.