Context: Recently, Battles between Armenian and Azerbaijan forces over the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh have continued overnight, as international calls for calm after the heaviest fighting between the two sides in years grew.

• The contested Nagorno-Karabakh region, a mountainous and heavily-forested patch of land, is at the heart of a decades-long armed standoff between neighbours Armenia and Azerbaijan.
• Under international law, Nagorno-Karabakh is recognised as part of Azerbaijan. But the ethnic Armenians who make up the vast majority of the population reject Azerbaijani rule. They have been running their own affairs, with support from Armenia, since Azerbaijan’s forces were pushed out in a war in the 1990s.

Background

• In 1988, towards the end of Soviet rule, Azerbaijani troops and Armenian secessionists began a bloody war which left Nagorno-Karabakh in the hands of ethnic Armenians when a truce was signed in 1994.
• Tens of thousands died in fighting, and many ethnic Azerbaijanis were forced to flee their homes.
• It is now a de facto independent region, relying heavily on support from Armenia. But it is not recognised by any UN member, including Armenia.
• Swathes of Azeri territory around the enclave are also under Armenian control.
• Over the years both sides have had soldiers killed in sporadic breaches of the ceasefire. Landlocked Armenia has suffered severe economic problems due to the closure of borders with Turkey and Azerbaijan.

Key facts regarding Nagorno-Karabakh

• A mountainous region of about 4,400 sq km (1,700 sq miles)
• Traditionally inhabited by Christian Armenians and Muslim Turks
• In Soviet times, it became an autonomous region within the republic of Azerbaijan
• Internationally recognised as part of Azerbaijan, but majority of population is ethnic Armenian
• An estimated one million people displaced by 1990s war, and about 30,000 killed
• Separatist forces captured some extra territory around the enclave in Azerbaijan in the 1990s war
• Stalemate has largely prevailed since a 1994 ceasefire
• Turkey openly supports Azerbaijan
• Russia has military bases in Armenia

Issue

• Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh, a breakaway region that is inside Azerbaijan but is run by ethnic Armenians, declared martial law and mobilised their male populations.
• Armenia said Azerbaijan had carried out an air and artillery attack on Nagorno-Karabakh.
• This is a decades-old conflict between majority Christian Armenia and mainly Muslim Azerbaijan.
• Nagorno-Karabakh broke away from Azerbaijan in a conflict that broke out as the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991.
• Though a ceasefire was agreed in 1994, after thousands of people were killed and many more displaced, Azerbaijan and Armenia frequently accuse each other of attacks around Nagorno-Karabakh and along the separate Azeri-Armenian frontier.

Impact of this Conflict

• Renewed tensions threaten to reignite a military conflict between the countries and destabilize the South Caucasus region. This may cause social unrest in the region which is already suffering from the Covid-19 pandemic.
• In this disputed region, there are hundreds of civilian settlements, residents of which would be directly impacted and potentially displaced if any large-scale war were to break out between the two countries
• This could also disrupt oil and gas exports from the region, since Azerbaijan, is a significant oil and gas exporter to Europe and Central Asia. This may even lead to higher oil prices globally.
• Russia has closer ties with Armenia while Turkey and USA support Azerbaijan, and Iran has a large Azeri minority, which could escalate a crisis and entangle actors involved. Any military escalation would draw regional powers like Turkey and Russia more deeply into the conflict.
• Russia, Israel and many other countries have been supplying Arms to both the countries despite the arms embargo by the United Nations.

Relation of India with Armenia and Azerbaijan

• Over the years Indian-Armenian bilateral cooperation has seen rapid growth.
• Many Indian students study in Armenian medical Universities and in recent years Armenia has witnessed an increasing flow of Indian labour migrants.
• For Armenia, close relations with India are vitally important as India provides a counter balance to the rival strategic axis between Azerbaijan, Pakistan and Turkey.
• 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.
• Where as Azerbaijan is a dialogue partner of Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), which India is a member of. However being a Muslim majority nation Azerbaijan supports Pakistan’s position on the Kashmir issue.