A year after ties between India and Azerbaijan soured over Baku’s alignment with Pakistan during Operation Sindoor, External Affairs Minister (EAM) S Jaishankar met with the country’s top leadership in an attempt to reset bilateral relations.Jaishankar, who arrived in Baku on Friday for a one-day visit, called his talks with Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov “very productive”, noting they helped set a path forward for improving relations between the two countries.“Our talks dwelt on further expanding our bilateral relations. We spoke about economic cooperation, including in trade, investment and energy, which are central to our bilateral ties. Given our complementary economies, we believe that there is very good scope for further enhancement of our bilateral trade and investment,” Jaishankar said.The North-South Transport Corridor – a 7,200km-long multi-mode transport project for moving freight among India, Iran, Afghanistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Russia, Central Asia and Europe – featured in their talks.“We are both invested in the International North-South Transport Corridor. That’s very important for us. We agreed today that we will coordinate more closely in that regard,” the EAM added.Meanwhile, Bayramov said he was delighted to welcome Jaishankar to exchange views on the current state and prospects of Azerbaijan-India relations.“We also discussed regional and international developments, and cooperation within multilateral frameworks. Emphasised the importance of continued dialogue and exploring opportunities for cooperation in areas of mutual interest,” he wrote on X.Story continues below this adIn his press remarks, Jaishankar said the two sides agreed to deepen cooperation in the oil and energy sector and also expand it to other areas. On air connectivity, he said there are daily flights, but to deepen ties, the two sides have to think about how to grow that further.He thanked Bayramov for evacuating Indian nationals, particularly students from Iran earlier this year, during the conflict.“We have Indian students in Azerbaijan. I want to thank you for the care and consideration with which you look after them,” Jaishankar said.The EAM also suggested resuming and increasing the number of Azerbaijani professionals from various domains to utilise the Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation programme.Story continues below this adStating that India has been monitoring developments in this region carefully, the EAM welcomed the August peace agreement between Azerbaijan and Armenia and hoped that it would lead to a durable peace.“India has a very clear position that disputes should be settled through dialogue and diplomacy. And in that context, we had, of course, discussions that covered the Middle East, Europe and Eurasia,” Jaishankar said.Jaishankar said the two sides assessed the global implications of these conflicts, because they have created a big problem, particularly for Global South economies in food, fuel, fertiliser and finance.“We have a common interest in really promoting peace and progress and prosperity,” he said, adding that threats like terrorism, conflict and instability are “our common enemies”. “We exchanged views on reforming and expanding international and regional organisations, making them more contemporary and relevant,” the EAM added.Story continues below this adHe also invited Bayramov to visit India soon at his convenience.Jaishankar, who earlier called on President Ilham Aliyev and discussed ways to strengthen bilateral ties, said he conveyed greetings from President Droupadi Murmu and PM Narendra Modi to him.He recalled the recent meeting between Modi and Aliyev on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit in Bishkek and said his visit to Baku is a follow-up to that meeting.“Our discussions were focused; they were forward-looking, and we exchanged views on various aspects of our relationship. In fact, the President was kind enough to give a lot of time to really review the entire gamut of our ties, including ongoing cooperation, what we could be doing more, what we could be doing differently,” the EAM said.Story continues below this ad“We also discussed important regional and global developments from a strategic perspective,” he added, asserting that both countries are independent-minded and can make their own call on the important issues.The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) confirmed on Friday that terrorism, security issues and common threats were discussed during Jaishankar’s official visit to Azerbaijan.MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal stated that India and Azerbaijan concurred that both nations must cooperate to enhance peace, prosperity and security for their citizens and address shared challenges collectively.