Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev has asked countries, including India, to stay away from supplying defence equipment to arch-rival Armenia. Citing concerns over Azerbaijan’s national security, Aliyev said, “It is a matter of our national security. We cannot sit and wait, seeing how France, India and Greece are weaponising Armenia against us and doing it openly, demonstratively.”
The Azeri president, while responding to questions during an event in the run up to COP29 in Baku, said that he has conveyed his stand to both Armenia and other countries supplying weapons to Armenia. “We openly expressed this position to Armenian government and to those who want to take care of Armenia now. Aliyev also suggested that Azerbaijan may have to take serious steps if the threat continue to build, “We will have to take serious measures if we see a serious threat to us,” said the president.
Aliyev’s warning stems from Armenia’s bolstering of its defence capabilities in recent years, marked by significant acquisitions of advanced weaponry, including short-range missiles and anti-drone systems. Notably, India has emerged as a key supplier, with agreements encompassing the sale of Pinaka multi-barrel rocket launchers and the Akash surface-to-air missile system.
Expressing his non-inference stance in the affairs of Armenia, Aliyev said “security concerns will be taken seriously”. He said, “When they build military power against us, when they concentrate sometimes their troops on our border, we cannot be silent. This is now our security and we have a right to be concerned.” Aliyev also openly asked countries not to send military weapons to Armenia for their self interest in the region, “to those who want to use it as forepost against Azerbaijan, don’t do it.”
Azerbaijan’s apprehensions regarding Indian defence supplies to Armenia were raised officially when Armenia reportedly received its first shipments of Pinaka in July 2023. Immediately after the reports in media, Azeri President’s Assistant on Foreign Policy Affairs Hikmat Hajiyev met with India Ambassador in Baku Sridharan Madhusudhanan. During the meeting, Hikmat Hajiyev said that the Azerbaijani side is concerned about deepening military cooperation between Armenia and India and called on the Indian ambassador to bring the serious concerns of the Azerbaijani side to the attention of Delhi and to reconsider India’s decision regarding the delivery of lethal weapons to Armenia, reported Azeri media.
Earlier, Azerbaijan’s president, while meeting the Indian Ambassador during credential acceptance ceremony in May last year, had highlighted that Armenia’s rapid arming poses new threats. Without naming India, Aliyev had said that if Armenia really wants peace with Azerbaijan, then “there is a question of why it is buying weapons worth 100 millions of dollars” underlining that this policy could lead to “new threats to the region”.
While India’s partnership with Armenia extends beyond defence cooperation to include infrastructure, trade, and technology, the focus on military hardware has seen significant focus in recent years. Furthermore, Armenia’s acquisition of three French-made Thales Ground Master 200 radar systems in October 2023, alongside a “letter of intent” for the supply of French short-range surface-to-air missiles, has irked the Azerbaijani side. Armenia is reported to have significantly increased its defence budget over the last two years from US$700-800 million in 2022 to about US$1.45billion in 2024.
The convergence of interests between India and France in supporting Armenia, driven by France’s influential Armenian community, adds another dimension to the complex geopolitical landscape of the region. How the Indian government is going to react to Azerbaijan’s calls to halt arms shipments to Armenia remains to be seen. However, Aliyev’s comments underline India’s growing overture in South Caucasus that may have strategic bearings in the time to come.
