India thanks Azerbaijan for Iran evacuation; both agree to launch political consultations

New Delhi: India has thanked Azerbaijan for helping evacuate around 200 of its citizens from Iran amid the West Asia war. The gratitude was expressed during a meeting in Baku between Azerbaijan’s Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov and India’s newly appointed Ambassador to Azerbaijan, Abhay Kumar on Wednesday.

“We convey our sincere appreciation to the authorities of Azerbaijan for facilitating safe transit of Indian nationals from Iran,” the Indian Embassy in Baku said in a statement. So far, 215 Indians have been evacuated through Azerbaijan–the third largest number after Russian and Chinese citizens.

Earlier, Ambassador Kumar personally met Indian nationals who had crossed from Iran into Azerbaijan. He enquired about their well-being and reassured them of the embassy’s support. The evacuation comes as war in West Asia has forced many countries to move their citizens out of Iran. The Indian foreign ministry spokesperson Randhir Kumar had also extended thanks of the Indian government to Azerbaijan for the evacuation.

Azerbaijan has played a helpful role by allowing safe passage, highlighting practical cooperation between the two nations during a difficult time. The West Asia war dominated the talks between the Indian ambassador and the Azeri Foreign Minister. The Azeri statement said, “Concern was also expressed over the current tensions in the Middle East.”

During the meeting, both sides agreed that a new mechanism of political consultations between their foreign ministries would be useful. The format would allow them to discuss areas of cooperation as well as any issues of disagreement in a structured way.

“The mechanism of political consultations between the Ministries of Foreign Affairs would be useful in terms of discussing issues of cooperation as well as issues of disagreement between the two countries,” a statement from the Azerbaijani side noted.

The two diplomats reviewed the current state and future prospects of bilateral relations. The statement “noted” that the “historical relations between the countries formed the foundation of relations”. They expressed satisfaction with progress in several areas, including direct flights, growing cooperation in tourism, and stronger ties in education. Energy remains an important part of the relationship. Indian company ONGC Videsh holds a stake in Azerbaijan’s major Azeri-Chirag-Guneshli (ACG) oil field and is involved in the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) pipeline. Both sides described this as one of the key directions of their economic ties.

Foreign Minister Bayramov congratulated Ambassador Kumar on his new appointment and wished him success. The ambassador thanked Azerbaijan for the warm welcome and said he looked forward to working to “expand relations” in all fields during his tenure.