India and Azerbaijan Begin Diplomatic Reset a Year After Operation Sindoor Strain

India and Azerbaijan have begun working to repair ties strained since Operation Sindoor, India's May 7 series of precision strikes on nine terror camps across Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, launched in response to the April 22 Pahalgam attack that killed 26 civilians. Azerbaijan criticised India's action and voiced support for Pakistan at the time, a stance that drew objections in New Delhi as India sought international backing for its response to cross-border terrorism.

The reset effort moved forward with the sixth round of India-Azerbaijan Foreign Office Consultations, the first high-level engagement of its kind between the two countries since 2022. External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar travelled to Baku to meet Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and held separate talks with Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov covering trade, investment, energy, transport and regional developments.

The consultations followed an earlier meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Aliyev on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit in Bishkek, which set the diplomatic track now playing out in Baku. The emphasis on the Indian side has been on restoring practical cooperation with Azerbaijan without touching India's defence partnership with Armenia, a balance New Delhi has had to manage given the tension between Baku and Yerevan.

A year on from the diplomatic strain, the resumption of high-level consultations after a multi-year gap marks a concrete step toward normalising the relationship, even if the underlying rift over Azerbaijan's position on Pakistan has not fully disappeared from the backdrop of the talks.