New Delhi: External affairs minister S. Jaishankar’s visit to Azerbaijan on Friday (October 23) marked a further step towards repairing bilateral ties strained by Baku’s support for Pakistan, with both sides acknowledging past disagreements but publicly focusing on expanding cooperation in trade, energy, connectivity and security.“It is not secret that during the several years, we had different viewpoints on the different issues,” Azerbaijani foreign minister Jeyhun Bayramov said at a joint press appearance with Jaishankar in Baku. Such differences, he added, “could impact both bilateral relations and international relations within our relationships, within the international organisations, and our cooperation within the organisations”.Bayramov described Friday’s discussions as “very long and positive and fruitful”, adding that they had helped put bilateral ties on “a very serious way of developing these relationships to the higher levels”.Jaishankar, who also met Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, said his discussions with the president had been “focused” and “forward-looking”. He described the meeting with Bayramov as “very productive” and said it had helped determine a “pathway forward” for relations. He invited the Azerbaijani foreign minister to visit India and said the two countries had agreed to exchange trade delegations and visits in other areas of cooperation.Neither minister publicly mentioned Pakistan. But in a pointed reference to the differences that had clouded bilateral ties, Jaishankar said, “please bear in mind that we are both independent-minded nations who make their own call on the important issues of the day”.The visit followed a meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Aliyev on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit in Bishkek on September 1.Azerbaijan was among the countries whose positions drew India’s displeasure during Operation Sindoor in May 2025. On May 7, after India began its military strikes in Pakistan, Baku issued a statement saying it was “in solidarity with the people of Pakistan” and condemned “military attacks against the Islamic Republic of Pakistan that killed and injured several civilians”.On July 28, 2025, Jaishankar told the Lok Sabha that “only three, apart from Pakistan, opposed Operation Sindoor”. Azerbaijan, China and Turkey were identified as the countries that had taken positions against India’s operation.The diplomatic fallout was made explicit in September 2025, when Aliyev met Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif at the SCO summit in Tianjin, China.According to the Azerbaijani president’s own official account of the meeting, Sharif thanked Baku for its political support during the conflict, while Aliyev “congratulated Pakistan on its victory over India”. He added that India had attempted to retaliate against Azerbaijan in international organisations in response to Baku’s support for Islamabad, but said this did not matter because “brotherly relations take precedence above all”.Azerbaijani media had reported that India had blocked Baku’s application for full membership of the SCO. However, India had said that Armenia and Azerbaijan’s application was not even discussed at the Tianjin summit due to “time constraints”.The two countries have other competing regional relationships. Azerbaijan has close ties with Turkey, which has consistently supported Pakistan on Kashmir, while India has developed a defence partnership with Armenia, Azerbaijan’s adversary in the South Caucasus.The first sign of a thaw came in April, when India’s secretary (west), Sibi George, visited Baku, the first high-level contact since the conflict in South Asia.The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA)’s readout of those consultations included the fight against cross-border terrorism among the subjects discussed, a pointed reference to an issue at the centre of India’s differences with Pakistan.At the MEA’s weekly press briefing on Friday, spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal confirmed that security and terrorism had come up during Jaishankar’s meetings in Baku.“Yes, security issues, terrorism and the common threats that we face [were] discussed,” Jaiswal said. “Both countries agreed that they must cooperate, collaborate to enhance peace, prosperity and security of their people and also work towards shared challenges that they have.”He did not say whether Pakistan had been explicitly mentioned in the discussions.Asked whether India would now consider supporting Azerbaijan’s case for full membership of the SCO, in light of the previous year’s tensions, Jaiswal declined to commit to a position. “As far as the SCO membership is concerned, this is something that is part of SCO and these discussions have to happen there,” he said.The South Caucasus dispute was raised during the discussions. Jaishankar said India had welcomed the peace agreement between Azerbaijan and Armenia reached in August 2025 and hoped it would lead to lasting peace. “We have a very clear position that disputes should be settled through dialogue and diplomacy,” he said, reiterating India’s stated approach to the conflict.Along with the initialling of the agreement, the two countries also issued a joint declaration, which acknowledged that further steps were needed for the treaty’s signing and ratification. Baku has continued to press Armenia to amend its constitution before the process can be completed.The agreement followed decades of conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh, an Armenian-populated region internationally recognised as part of Azerbaijan. Azerbaijan regained control over surrounding territories in the 2020 war and took control of Nagorno-Karabakh itself after a military offensive in September 2023. More than 100,000 ethnic Armenians fled to Armenia in the aftermath, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.During the press appearance on Friday, Bayramov said he had briefed Jaishankar on the regional situation, including the peace process, the movement of goods between Azerbaijan and Armenia, and the lifting of restrictions on certain exports. He also raised the question of constitutional changes in Armenia, saying, “We are still waiting for the political will in Armenia about constitutional changes and other issues.”Economic ties are another reason for both countries to pursue a reset. Bayramov said that Indian companies had operated in Azerbaijan for years and that trade turnover had reached about $600 million this year. He identified pharmaceuticals, agriculture, information technology, digital services, manufacturing and energy as sectors with significant potential for expansion.“Given our complementary economies, we believe that there is very good scope for further enhancement of our bilateral trade and investment,” Jaishankar said. He added that the two countries had agreed to deepen energy cooperation, an area in which India already has substantial commercial interests.Azerbaijan is a major producer of oil and natural gas in the Caspian region. Its energy ministry reported that the country produced 27.7 million tonnes of oil and 51.5 billion cubic metres of natural gas in 2025.Indian state-owned company ONGC Videsh has invested over $1.2 billion in the Azeri-Chirag-Gunashli oilfield and the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline. After buying Equinor’s stake in 2024, it holds 2.925% of the field and 3.097% of the pipeline. The field accounts for 37% of Azerbaijan’s oil output.Raising the importance of connectivity, Jaishankar said “we are both invested in the International North-South Transport Corridor”, adding that the two countries had agreed to coordinate more closely on the project. The corridor is intended to connect India with Iran and onwards to destinations in Central Asia and Russia.The ministers also discussed air links, trade delegations and student exchanges. Jaishankar thanked Azerbaijan for the care given to Indian students studying in the country and for assisting in the evacuation of Indian nationals, particularly students, from Iran during the conflict there earlier this year.