Indian arms supply to Armenia 'unfriendly' act: Azerbaijan Prez

Sandeep Dikshit

New Delhi, January 13

Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev called India’s supply of weapons to adversary Armenia as an “unfriendly move”, adding: “If we are facing a serious threat, we will deal with that threat immediately, regardless of where that threat arises, within our territory or outside our borders. It is our legitimate right to do so.”

A few hours later, Azerbaijan’s Ambassador to India Ashraf Shikhaliyev sought to dial down the harsh observations by congratulating India on the G20 Presidency and pointing out that Azerbaijan Energy Minister Parviz Shahbazov was participating in the Global South Summit’s session on energy security.

In an attempt to take the heat off bilateral ties, the Ambassador pointed out that India’s G20 theme of “One Earth, One Family, One Future” showed the role of the developing world in shaping global agenda.

Ilham, who along with father Haider Aliyev, has ruled oil-rich Azerbaijan for 30 years, said: “We see and know which countries are preparing to give weapons to Armenia. Unfortunately, India is now among them. We consider this an unfriendly move. Because these weapons have only one target, Azerbaijan.”

India has made little attempt to hide the sale of military grade radars to Armenia when the first war with Azerbaijan took place in 2020. The media had reported that a defence delegation from Armenia visited India to meet with their counterparts while noting that the indigenous weapon-locating radars were a success in Armenia as well.

In September, “India Narrative” reported that India was prepared to export missiles, rockets and ammunition to Armenia and that the two nations had signed contracts for the supply of arms and ammunition. The main arms suppliers to Azerbaijan in its upper hand over Armenia have been Turkey and Pakistan.