Azerbaijan emerges as new platform for Khalistan narrative backed by Pak-Turkey axis: Why India should watch closely

The conference titled “Racism and Violence Against Sikhs and Other National Minorities in India: The Reality on the Ground” marks a decisive escalation in attempts to pressure New Delhi through global platforms. (Image Source: X/Allen Hampton)

Azerbaijan held a conference promoting the Khalistan cause, supported by Pakistan and Turkey, featuring extremists and officials in a bid to internationalize India’s internal security issues and increase global pressure on New Delhi.

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A new geopolitical front against India has opened up with Azerbaijan hosting an international conference aimed at amplifying the Khalistan narrative, signalling a coordinated effort by the Azerbaijan–Pakistan–Turkey axis to internationalise India’s internal security issues.

According to CNN-News18, the conference titled “Racism and Violence Against Sikhs and Other National Minorities in India: The Reality on the Ground” marks a decisive escalation in attempts to pressure New Delhi through global platforms.

Organised by the government-affiliated Baku Initiative Group (BIG), the event reflects a strategic pivot by Pakistan and its allies to move the Khalistan discourse beyond fringe activism and into international human rights forums.

State backing and extremist participation

The conference brought together a carefully curated mix of Khalistani extremists and Pakistani officials, underlining clear state support. CNN-News18 reported that key attendees included Abbas Abbasov, Executive Director of the Baku Initiative Group, and Ramesh Singh Arora, Pakistan’s Punjab Minister for Human Rights and Minority Affairs, whose presence lent official legitimacy to the proceedings.

Khalistani representation came from Western countries where such groups are increasingly under scrutiny. Participants included Moninder Singh and Prabhjot Singh Warring from Canada, Dabinderjit Singh Sidhu and Jaswinder Singh Khatkar from the United Kingdom, and Ranveer Singh of the UK-based group “Everything’s 13”.

The event opened with a minute of silence for Hardeep Singh Nijjar, the Khalistani operative killed in Canada in 2023, effectively projecting him as a martyr. This was followed by propaganda films and archival material portraying India’s counter-terrorism actions as “systemic racism” and “genocide”, a claim Indian authorities and multiple international assessments have consistently rejected.

A calculated shift toward the United Nations

According to CNN-News18, a central focus of the conference was to move the Khalistan campaign from street-level activism to global institutions. Participants discussed approaching the UN Human Rights Committee to seek probes into alleged “extrajudicial executions” in India.

The joint statement issued by BIG and the Sikh Federation International argued that Sikh activism was being wrongly labelled “extremism”, a familiar Khalistani talking point aimed at laundering radical narratives through academic, NGO, and policy spaces in the West.

The Azerbaijan-Pakistan-Turkey axis comes into focus

The choice of Baku as the venue is significant. CNN-News18 noted that Azerbaijan has steadily aligned itself with Pakistan and Turkey, often referred to as the “Three Brothers”, particularly after India backed Armenia during the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

This alignment has become visible in language and policy. Azerbaijani state media and think tanks have begun using the term “IOJK”, mirroring Pakistan’s description of Jammu and Kashmir. The Baku Initiative Group, initially set up in 2023 to target Western colonialism narratives, particularly against France, is now being repurposed as a platform to amplify Khalistani propaganda.

A neutral stage for a not-so-neutral agenda

Security analysts quoted by CNN-News18 assess that Pakistan is using Azerbaijan as a seemingly neutral stage to host actors who face growing legal and political pressure in Canada and the UK. By outsourcing the narrative push to Baku, Islamabad gains plausible deniability while keeping the Khalistan issue alive internationally.

What emerges is a clear pattern. The Azerbaijan-Pakistan-Turkey axis is attempting to weaponise human rights language to undermine India, while providing space to extremist elements operating under the guise of minority advocacy. Far from being an isolated conference, the Baku event reflects a coordinated and hostile information strategy aimed squarely at New Delhi.