New Delhi: External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar will embark on an official visit to Azerbaijan on October 23, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) stated on Thursday. During the visit, Jaishankar will hold talks with his Azerbaijani counterpart to review bilateral relations between the two countries.
On October 16, India’s Ambassador to Azerbaijan, Abhay Kumar, presented his credentials to Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev. During the meeting, Kumar expressed his commitment to strengthening ties between New Delhi and Baku.
“During the meeting, Ambassador Abhay Kumar conveyed his commitment to working towards the further strengthening and expansion of bilateral relations between India and Azerbaijan. He affirmed that he would spare no effort to promote closer cooperation between the two countries and to deepen the longstanding bonds of friendship and mutual understanding between their peoples,” the Indian Embassy in Azerbaijan stated on X.
“The discussions highlighted the enduring historical and cultural connections between India and Azerbaijan, which have developed over millennia and continue to provide a strong foundation for contemporary bilateral engagement. Both sides acknowledged the significance of these longstanding ties and exchanged views on the prospects for expanding cooperation across various spheres of mutual interest,” the release added.
The Indian Embassy also stated that discussions referred to the meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Aliyev in Bishkek. Ambassador Kumar and President Aliyev reaffirmed their resolve to elevate bilateral ties and foster deeper cooperation, emphasising the need to build on historical foundations and mutual goodwill to explore new avenues of engagement.
Last week, Union Minister of State for External Affairs Kirti Vardhan Singh visited Azerbaijan to attend the Seventh Summit of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia (CICA).
Addressing the plenary session of the summit in Baku on October 15, Singh highlighted India’s guiding philosophy of ‘Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam’, aimed at promoting peace, cooperation, friendship and collective efforts to address shared challenges.
In a post on X, Singh said he had called upon all member states to unite against cross-border terrorism.
Earlier, on September 1, Prime Minister Narendra Modi met Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Summit in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan.
