External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar visited Azerbaijan on October 23, 2024, as confirmed by the Ministry of External Affairs. The visit aimed to review and strengthen bilateral relations between India and Azerbaijan. Azerbaijan, a South Caucasus nation bordering the Caspian Sea, holds strategic relevance for India through energy cooperation, connectivity corridors, and engagement with the broader Central Asian region. The visit reflects India's active diplomacy toward Eurasian nations under its Connect Central Asia policy.

India–Azerbaijan relations, though not always in the spotlight, sit at the intersection of several strategic frameworks that UPSC tests rigorously. Azerbaijan is a key node in the International North–South Transport Corridor (INSTC), a 7,200 km multi-modal route linking India to Russia and Europe via Iran and Azerbaijan. India has been a significant investor in Azerbaijan's energy sector, including stakes in the Azeri–Chirag–Gunashli oil field through ONGC Videsh. Diplomatically, Azerbaijan is important because of its position in the South Caucasus — a region contested between Russian, Turkish, and Iranian spheres of influence — and its recent military victory over Armenia in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, which reshuffled the region's geopolitics.

Azerbaijan also hosted COP29 in Baku in November 2024, making Jaishankar's October visit a potential precursor to climate-related diplomatic groundwork. India and Azerbaijan established diplomatic ties in 1992, shortly after Azerbaijan's independence from the Soviet Union. The bilateral framework includes a Joint Commission on Trade and Economic Cooperation. For UPSC aspirants, this visit is best understood not as an isolated event but as part of India's broader Eurasian engagement — connecting dots between INSTC, energy security, and the reconfiguring South Caucasus after the 2023 Nagorno-Karabakh ceasefire.