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Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev on October 16 received Abhay Kumar, the newly appointed Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of India to Azerbaijan, who presented his credentials to the Azerbaijani head of state.
During the meeting, Abhay Kumar said he would spare no effort to promote the development of bilateral relations between India and Azerbaijan. The discussions also referred to the interaction between President Aliyev and Prime Minister Narendra Modi in September in Bishkek, on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Summit. Both sides highlighted the historical and cultural ties between the Azerbaijani and Indian peoples, which have existed for millennia, and exchanged views on prospects for strengthening bilateral relations across various fields. Last month, Indian Ambassador to Azerbaijan Abhay Kumar met Elnur Mammadov, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan, to discuss important issues of mutual interest between New Delhi and Baku. In a post on X, the Embassy of India in Azerbaijan shared details of the meeting, stating, Ambassador Abhay Kumar met Elnur Mammadov, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan. They discussed IndiaAzerbaijan relations and matters of mutual interest. The embassy further mentioned that Ambassador Kumar presented Mammadov with a copy of Bakus Temple of Eternal Fire, a book highlighting the historical and cultural connections between India and Azerbaijan through the Ateshgah Fire Temple. India and Azerbaijan share cordial relations rooted in their civilisational connections, cultural similarities, and common values of understanding and respect for different cultures. According to a release by the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), the Ateshgah Fire Temple, located near Baku, stands as a notable example of the longstanding historical ties and cultural exchanges between the two countries. The 18th-century monument, whose origins date back much further, features inscriptions in Devanagari and Gurmukhi scripts on its walls. It serves as surviving evidence of the trade connections and hospitality extended to Indian merchants travelling along the Silk Route to Europe through Azerbaijani cities such as Baku and Ganja. Over the centuries, cultural exchanges between India and Azerbaijan have fostered a strong cultural affinity and contributed to the development of shared traditions between the two nations. (ANI)
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