Nagorno-Karabakh & The Kashmir Conundrum

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Heavy shelling in Nagorno Karabakh. Representational Image: Public domain.
Factoring the Kashmir calculus, India did not not stand up for Armenia – It lost a strategic partner in South Caucasus.

On November 9, 2020, Armenia signed a humiliating agreement in which Azerbaijan won many of the concessions it has sought for decades in negotiations over the Nagorno-Karabakh separatist region. Speaking of the settlement, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan of Armenia, said:

I personally made a very hard decision for me and all of us.

The settlement, brokered by Russia – signed by President Vladimir Putin of Russia, President Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan and Mr. Pashinyan of Armenia – comes in the wake of Armenia’s significant battlefield defeat. It requires both sides to stop fighting and necessitates Armenia’s army to withdraw from the Nagorno-Karabakh region, to be replaced by Russian peacekeepers.

The new agreement also requires the Armenian and Azerbaijani armies to stop at their currently occupied territories. That gives Azerbaijan a hold over the strategic town of Susha (Sushi to Armenians), the second-largest town in the region which overlooks the city of Stepanakert. 

The settlement, was celebrated by the Azerbaijanis. People in Baku waved Azerbaijani flags when their President made the announcement on television. One also witnessed Turkish and Pakistani flags being waved, countries which offered support to the conflict. But the settlement has understandably angered many Armenians.



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