India's Growing Engagement In Caucasus Region And How It Signals Change Of Equations With Azerbaijan, Turkey
India and Armenia have adopted a government-to-government route to ink a number of contracts for the supply of arms and ammunition, including indigenous Pinaka multi-barrel rocket launchers.
India-Armenia defence partnership has set things straight in the Caucasus region. The entire region has been witnessing new waves of strategic partnership as well as realigning of common causes. Armenia has always treated India as a friend in need, and India has responded with the same commitment and farsightedness. Armenia is locked in a deadly war with Azerbaijan in Nagorno Karabakh area. The orbit of this war is expanding to a dangerous zone now as Azeri forces have started attacking on the internationally recognised Armenian territory now.
The situation has come to such a head that the EU Special Representative in South Caucasus had to call for an investigation amid allegations of war crimes and human rights offences by Azeri forces.
India To Send Pinaka Rocket Launchers To Armenia
Why India has become so important in the Caucasus region between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea — mainly comprising Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia etc — is evident from the changed equations of the region. As Russia is involved in a war with Ukraine, India has emerged as a stepping stone to cross the expansionist and extremist ridge of a triangle named Azerbaijan, Turkey and Pakistan. During the recent Azeri attack, Armenia requested help from the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), which is an intergovernmental military alliance in Eurasia consisting of the six post-Soviet states of Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, and Tajikistan. But CSTO didn't intervene, though key Article 4 of the treaty clearly establishes that aggression against one signatory would be perceived as “aggression against all State Parties to this Treaty”.
This leaves Armenia as a lone territory as Azerbaijan is strongly backed by Turkey and Pakistan. India has extended military cooperation in terms of weapon sale to Armenia in such trying circumstances, which itself indicates the level of Indian inclination towards the Armenian cause. Armenia has secured a defence deal with India for military equipment worth over Rs 2,000 crore, which will be exported to the country very soon. Both countries have adopted a government-to-government route to ink a number of contracts for the supply of arms and ammunition, including indigenous Pinaka multi-barrel rocket launchers (MBRLs). Pinaka can launch 12 rockets in 44 seconds. This might become a game changer in the region as the MBRL has the capacity to destroy the deadly drones supplied by Turkey to Azerbaijan to counter Armenian defence.
Warmest congratulations to a good friend & colleague @DrSJaishankar & the Government & people of #India on the 30th anniversary of our diplomatic relations.
— Ararat Mirzoyan (@AraratMirzoyan) August 31, 2022
Very much value 🇦🇲🇮🇳 strong relations & historic friendship & committed to enhancing cooperation in all areas. pic.twitter.com/WqvsEA0AU7
Why Azerbaijan And Turkey Are Rattled
Azerbaijan appears to be greatly disturbed by India's initiative in the region. The Azeri media is calling India's defence equipment “scrap”, even as discussing India's exceptional growth story in the defence sector, including 334 percent export growth within five years as India has exported defence equipment to over 75 countries.
India's global emergence has led to a change in Turkish attitude too. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is known for his public criticism of India’s policies about Kashmir, but in the changed geopolitical realities, Turkey is walking cautiously on its old fashioned path of animosity and antipathy against India. In an unexpected development, Erdogan even met Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the recently concluded SCO Summit, in what appeared to be trying to mend fences.
India has, meanwhile, adopted an aggressive approach towards its known baiters and enemies. Interacting with his Turkish counterpart, Jaishankar even raised the issue of Turkey's bitter dispute in Cyprus, where it has long been lodged in a conflict. This has sent a very strong message for the entire Caucasus region. Indian-Armenian friendship and mutual cooperation aim to ensure a major resettlement of global equations in favour of peace, prosperity and balance of power in the region.
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