Almost 11 months after ties between India and Azerbaijan suffered following Operation Sindoor, New Delhi and Baku are re-engaging with each other as senior officials met in Baku on Friday.

The re-engagement is part of repairing of ties that began due to Azerbaijan’s support and help in evacuating Indian nationals from Iran — by using the landlocked nation as an overland transit route.

In view of airspace closure over Iran, travel of Indian nationals is being facilitated through Armenia and Azerbaijan. So far, 1,267 Indians, including 860 students, have exited Iran.

This has been possible due to the engagement by the newly-appointed Indian ambassador to Azerbaijan, Abhay Kumar, who began the process last month.

Last year, ties between India and Azerbaijan took a hit after Baku voiced concern over escalating tensions between India and Pakistan, condemning New Delhi’s military strikes on Pakistani territory under Operation Sindoor between May 7 and 10. The re-engagement is part of repairing of ties that began following Azerbaijan’s help in evacuating Indian nationals from Iran.

On Friday, the Ministry of External Affairs said, “Secretary (West) (Siby George) called on Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov of the Republic of Azerbaijan in Baku today and reviewed the bilateral ties and exchanged views on regional and global matters of common interest.”

The 6th round of India-Azerbaijan Foreign Office Consultations was also held on Friday in Baku, co-chaired by the Secretary (West) besides Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Elnur Mammadov.

According to MEA, the two sides comprehensively reviewed the current state of bilateral relations covering areas of mutual interest. The issues discussed included trade, technology, tourism, pharmaceuticals, energy, culture, people-to-people exchanges and the fight against cross-border terrorism.

Secretary (West) George also met Hikmet Hajiyev, the Foreign Policy Advisor to the President of Azerbaijan.

Both sides agreed to hold the next round of Foreign Office Consultations at a mutually convenient date in New Delhi, it said.

Last year, ties between India and Azerbaijan took a hit after Baku voiced concern over escalating tensions between New Delhi and Islamabad, condemning India’s military strikes on Pakistani territory under Operation Sindoor between May 7 and 10.

This had led to a campaign to boycott Azerbaijan as a tourism destination.

In the weeks and months after Operation Sindoor, Indian tourist traffic to Azerbaijan and Turkey, two countries which came out in Pakistan’s support during the conflict, fell drastically.

Before this, Azerbaijan and Turkey were fast gaining popularity as tourism destinations for Indians. The number of Indian travellers visiting the two transcontinental countries had grown considerably in recent years, with direct flight connections also seeing a rise.