Nagorno-Karabakh Conflict

Table of Contents

Context: The recent escalation in the territorial disagreement between Armenia and Azerbaijan over the Nagorno Karabakh region has resulted in significant clashes.

About the Nagorno Karabakh Region:

Nagorno-Karabakh is a mountainous and a heavily forested region lying south of Caucasus mountains.
The region includes the north-eastern flank of the Karabakh Range of the Lesser Caucasus and extends from the crest line of the range to the margin of the Kura River lowland at its foot.
It is officially recognised as part of Azerbaijan.
However, its 1.2 lakh population is predominantly ethnic Armenian, having close cultural, social, and historical ties with Armenia.
- The Armenians are Christians, while Azeris are Muslims.
Basically, Nagorno-Karabakh is an ethnic Armenian enclave in Azerbaijan. The conclave is connected to Armenia through the 5-km Lachin Corridor.

What is the Conflict?

In the early 1920s, after the Bolshevik revolution in Russia, the new Soviet rulers, established the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Region, with an ethnic Armenian majority.
- This region was established within the Soviet Socialist Republic of Azerbaijan.
As Soviet control loosened towards the end of the 1980s, there was Armenian-Azeri frictions that exploded into violence when the regional legislature of Nagorno-Karabakh, passed a resolution declaring its intention to join Armenia.
With the break-up of the Soviet Union, in late 1991, Karabakh declared itself an independent republic, further escalating the conflict into a full-scale war.
The war lasted from 1991 to 1994 resulting in the deaths of about 30,000 people and the displacement of over a million people.
In 1994, Russia brokered a ceasefire known as the Bishkek Protocol, which established a de facto independent Nagorno-Karabakh with a self-proclaimed government in Stepanakert.
- However, the region remained heavily reliant on close economic, political, and military ties with Armenia.
In 2020, Azerbaijan and Armenia went to war again over the region and as a result, Azerbaijan managed to wrest control of the territory around Nagorno-Karabakh.
In 2022, Azerbaijan blockaded the Lachin Corridor, the only road connecting Nagorno-Karabakh to Armenia, causing severe shortages of essential goods including food, fuel, and water in Nagorno-Karabakh.
In 2023, days after an agreement to reopen the Lachin Corridor for aid deliveries sparked hopes of easing the crisis, Azerbaijan launched an “anti-terrorist” offensive in Nagorno-Karabakh and claimed to have regained full control over the region.

India’s Stand:

No Specific Policy
- India has no specific public policy for the South Caucasus region like the ‘Neighborhood First Policy’ or ‘Act East’.
- India believes that any lasting resolution of the conflict can only be achieved peacefully through diplomatic negotiations.
Relationship with Armenia
- India and Armenia signed a Treaty on Friendship and Cooperation in Dec. 1995.
- If the conflict in the Nagorno-Karabakh region reaches the territory of Armenia, this treaty will prohibit India from providing military or any other aid to Azerbaijan.
- Armenia has openly supported India on the Kashmir issue, while Azerbaijan has the support of Pakistan.
Relationship with Azerbaijan
- India is part of the International North–South Transport Corridor (INSTC), a multimodal network of ship, rail, and road route for moving freight between India, Iran, Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Russia, Central Asia and Europe.
- Investments have been made in oil field projects by ONGC Videsh Limited in Azerbaijan and GAIL is exploring the possibilities of cooperation in the field of LNG.
- Azerbaijan is a dialogue partner of Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), which India is a member of.
- However, in the Kashmir issue, Azerbaijan has garnered its support to Pakistan.

Global Perspective:

Pakistan:
- India has been supported Armenia while Azerbaijan has been supported by Pakistan.
- Pakistan was the second country to recognize Azerbaijan’s independence after Turkey.
- Also, Pakistan is the only country that does not recognize Armenia as an independent state and fully supports Azerbaijan’s position.
China Angle:
- China has grown increasingly active in the caucasian region, conducting a number of programs and signing economic, political and military agreements with Armenia.
- Armenia has also agreed to participate in the Chinese Belt and Road project.
- However, China is an ally of its rival Azerbaijan.
Turkey: Due to the involvement of regional rivals Turkey and Russia, this conflict has attracted worldwide attention.
- Muslim-majority Turkey is a NATO ally and backs Azerbaijan.
- Turkey’s support for Azerbaijan may be seen as an attempt to counter Russia’s influence in the region of South Caucasus.
- In 1991, Turkey was the first country to recognize the independence of Azerbaijan.
- On the other hand, Armenia is a member of Russian led Collective Security Treaty Organization- CSTO.
- For all other countries, the region is an important transit route for the supply of oil and natural gas to the European Union.