Major-General Eduard Asrian, the chief of the Armenian army’s General Staff, met with General Anil Chauhan, the chief of the Indian Defense Staff, as he and other senior Armenian officials visited India to attend an annual conference on global security.
In a Twitter post, the Indian military headquarters said Asrian and Chauhan discussed “identifying areas to augment defense cooperation, including opportunities to leverage indigenous defense manufacturing industry.”
The Armenian Defense Ministry said, for its part, that they looked at the “possibilities of expanding defense cooperation between India and Armenia.”
The two nations have stepped up that cooperation since the 2020 Armenian-Azerbaijani war in Nagorno-Karabakh during which India’s arch-foe Pakistan strongly supported Azerbaijan. Last September, the Armenian military reportedly signed contracts for the purchase of $245 million worth of Indian multiple-launch rocket systems, anti-tank rockets and ammunition.
Armenian Defense Minister Suren Papikian explored more such deals during a subsequent visit to India. Indian media reported during Papikian’s trip that Yerevan is interested in acquiring air-defense systems and combat drones manufactured by Indian companies.
The Armenian Defense Ministry said Asrian presented “security challenges” facing Armenia during a roundtable discussion on Indian-Armenian relations organized by India’s National Security Council.
New Delhi has effectively sided Armenia with in its ongoing border disputes with Azerbaijan. It has also expressed serious concern over the Azerbaijani blockade of the Lachin corridor.
Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan and his Indian counterpart Subrahmanyam Jaishankar also met on Saturday on the sidelines of the Raisina Dialogue conference. Mirzoyan briefed Jaishankar on the humanitarian crisis in Karabakh caused by the blockade as well as recent Armenian-Azerbaijani peace talks.
According to the Armenian Foreign Ministry, the two ministers also reviewed growing Indian-Armenian trade and bilateral cooperation on education, culture and tourism.