International relations between

Armenia Armenia, officially the Republic of Armenia, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of West Asia. It is a part of the Caucasus region and is bordered by Turkey to the west, Georgia (country), Georgia to the north and Azerbaijan to ...

and

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

have been described as friendly. The two countries share a strong burgeoning relationship in economics, culture, military and technology. In 2022, it was reported that the two nations were exploring possibilities of long-term military cooperation. Armenia has an embassy in

New Delhi New Delhi (; ) is the Capital city, capital of India and a part of the Delhi, National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the Government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, New Parliament ...

. India has an embassy in

Yerevan Yerevan ( , , ; ; sometimes spelled Erevan) is the capital and largest city of Armenia, as well as one of the world's List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest continuously inhabited cities. Situated along the Hrazdan River, Yerev ...

History

Early history

Hindu Hindus (; ; also known as Sanātanīs) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism, also known by its endonym Sanātana Dharma. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pp. 35–37 Historically, the term has also be ...

cities in ancient

are described in 3rd century AD about two Indian princes (variously identified as princes from

Ujjain Ujjain (, , old name Avantika, ) or Ujjayinī is a city in Ujjain district of the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. It is the fifth-largest city in Madhya Pradesh by population and is the administrative as well as religious centre of Ujjain ...

/ Kannauj, sometimes named “Krishna” and “Ganesh”) who arrived in the Taron region about 149 BCE, conquered Armenian lands, established temples at various places such as Ashtishat, and whose sons (Kouar, Meghts, Horian / similar forms) founded numerous cities and settlements, a story preserved in a text attributed to

Zenob Glak Zenob Glak () was an Armenian historian who became the first abbot of the Glak monastery (also known as ''Surb Karapet Monastery'', dedicated to St. John the Baptist ) in the Taron region of Greater Armenia. He began the chronology that would be ...

in the 3rd century AD. Zenob was the official historian of the first Armenian Christian Saint.

Armenians Armenians (, ) are an ethnic group indigenous to the Armenian highlands of West Asia.Robert Hewsen, Hewsen, Robert H. "The Geography of Armenia" in ''The Armenian People From Ancient to Modern Times Volume I: The Dynastic Periods: From Antiq ...

are believed to have traveled to India, when some Armenians joined the auxiliary elements of the forces under the command of

Alexander the Great Alexander III of Macedon (; 20/21 July 356 BC – 10/11 June 323 BC), most commonly known as Alexander the Great, was a king of the Ancient Greece, ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia (ancient kingdom), Macedon. He succeeded his father Philip ...

when he crossed Armenia en route to India. The earliest documented references to the mutual relationship of Armenians and Indians are found in

Cyropaedia The ''Cyropaedia'', sometimes spelled ''Cyropedia'', is a partly fictional biography of Cyrus the Great, the founder of Persia's Achaemenid Empire. It was written around 370 BC by Xenophon, the Athens, Athenian-born soldier, historian, and studen ...

(

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

Expedition), an

ancient Greek Ancient Greek (, ; ) includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the classical antiquity, ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Greek ...

work by

Xenophon Xenophon of Athens (; ; 355/354 BC) was a Greek military leader, philosopher, and historian. At the age of 30, he was elected as one of the leaders of the retreating Ancient Greek mercenaries, Greek mercenaries, the Ten Thousand, who had been ...

. These references indicate that several Armenians travelled to Afghanistan, and they were well aware of land routes to reach India, as also the general and political geography, socio-cultural milieu, and economic life of the

Indian subcontinent The Indian subcontinent is a physiographic region of Asia below the Himalayas which projects into the Indian Ocean between the Bay of Bengal to the east and the Arabian Sea to the west. It is now divided between Bangladesh, India, and Pakista ...

. An archive directory (published 1956) in

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, but spread chiefly to the west, or beyond its Bank (geography ...

states that Armenian merchant-cum-diplomat

Thomas of Cana Thomas of Cana (Malayalam: K'nāi Thoma or Tomman Kinān, Syriac: K'nānāya Thoma) was a Syriac Christian merchant magnate who arrived to the Chera Dynasties capital city of Kodungallur between 345 A.D. and 811 A.D. Thoma brought with him ...

arrived on the

Malabar Coast The Malabar Coast () is the southwestern region of the Indian subcontinent. It generally refers to the West Coast of India, western coastline of India stretching from Konkan to Kanyakumari. Geographically, it comprises one of the wettest regio ...

in 780 AD using the overland route. Thomas was an affluent merchant dealing chiefly in

spice In the culinary arts, a spice is any seed, fruit, root, Bark (botany), bark, or other plant substance in a form primarily used for flavoring or coloring food. Spices are distinguished from herbs, which are the leaves, flowers, or stems of pl ...

s and

muslin Muslin () is a cotton fabric of plain weave. It is made in a wide range of weights from delicate sheers to coarse sheeting. It is commonly believed that it gets its name from the city of Mosul, Iraq. Muslin was produced in different regions o ...

s. He was also instrumental in obtaining a

decree A decree is a law, legal proclamation, usually issued by a head of state, judge, monarch, royal figure, or other relevant Authority, authorities, according to certain procedures. These procedures are usually defined by the constitution, Legislativ ...

, inscribed on a copperplate, from the

Chera Dynasty The Chera dynasty ( or Cēra, ), also known as Keralaputra, from the early historic or the Sangam period in Tamil-speaking southern India, ruled over parts of present-day states Kerala and Tamil Nadu. The Cheras, known as one of the mu-ventar ...

, which conferred several

commercial Commercial may refer to: * (adjective for) commerce, a system of voluntary exchange of products and services ** (adjective for) trade, the trading of something of economic value such as goods, services, information or money * a dose of advertising ...

social Social organisms, including human(s), live collectively in interacting populations. This interaction is considered social whether they are aware of it or not, and whether the exchange is voluntary or not. Etymology The word "social" derives fro ...

and

religious Religion is a range of social- cultural systems, including designated behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics, or organizations, that generally relate humanity to supernatural ...

privileges for the regional

Saint Thomas Christians The Saint Thomas Christians, also called Syrian Christians of India, ''Marthoma Suriyani Nasrani'', ''Malankara Nasrani'', or ''Nasrani Mappila'', are an Ethnoreligious group, ethno-religious community of Indian Christians in the state of Ker ...

. In current local references, Thomas of Cana is known as ''Knayi Thomman'' or ''Kanaj Tomma'', meaning "Thomas the merchant". Armenians had trade relations with several parts of India, and by the 7th century a few Armenian settlements had appeared in the present-day state of

Kerala Kerala ( , ) is a States and union territories of India, state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile ...

on the Malabar Coast. Armenians controlled a large part of the international trade of the area, particularly in

precious stones A gemstone (also called a fine gem, jewel, precious stone, semiprecious stone, or simply gem) is a piece of mineral crystal which, when cut or polished, is used to make jewellery, jewelry or other adornments. Certain Rock (geology), rocks (such ...

and quality

fabrics Textile is an umbrella term that includes various fiber-based materials, including fibers, yarns, filaments, threads, and different types of fabric. At first, the word "textiles" only referred to woven fabrics. However, weaving is not ...

Medieval history

Mughal emperor The emperors of the Mughal Empire, who were all members of the Timurid dynasty (House of Babur), ruled the empire from its inception on 21 April 1526 to its dissolution on 21 September 1857. They were supreme monarchs of the Mughal Empire in ...

Akbar Akbar (Jalal-ud-din Muhammad Akbar, – ), popularly known as Akbar the Great, was the third Mughal emperor, who reigned from 1556 to 1605. Akbar succeeded his father, Humayun, under a regent, Bairam Khan, who helped the young emperor expa ...

(1556–1605), invited Armenians to settle in

Agra Agra ( ) is a city on the banks of the Yamuna river in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, about south-east of the national capital Delhi and 330 km west of the state capital Lucknow. With a population of roughly 1.6 million, Agra is the ...

in the 16th century, and by the middle of the 19th century, Agra had a sizeable Armenian population. Armenian traders visited Agra during the Mughal Empire. By an imperial decree, Armenian merchants were exempted from paying taxes on the merchandise imported and exported by them, and they were also allowed to move around in the areas of the Mughal Empire where entry of foreigners was otherwise prohibited. In 1562, an

Armenian Church Armenian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia * Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent ** Armenian diaspora, Armenian communities around the ...

was constructed in Agra. From the 16th century onwards, the Armenians (mostly from

Persia Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

) formed an important trading community in

Surat Surat (Gujarati Language, Gujarati: ) is a city in the western Indian States and territories of India, state of Gujarat. The word Surat directly translates to ''face'' in Urdu, Gujarati language, Gujarati and Hindi. Located on the banks of t ...

, the most active Indian

port A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as Hamburg, Manch ...

of that period, located on the western coast of India. The port city of Surat used to have regular sea borne to and fro

traffic Traffic is the movement of vehicles and pedestrians along land routes. Traffic laws govern and regulate traffic, while rules of the road include traffic laws and informal rules that may have developed over time to facilitate the orderly an ...

of merchant

vessels Vessel(s) or the Vessel may refer to: Biology *Blood vessel, a part of the circulatory system and function to transport blood throughout the body *Lymphatic vessel, a thin walled, valved structure that carries lymph *Vessel element, a narrow wat ...

from

Basra Basra () is a port city in Iraq, southern Iraq. It is the capital of the eponymous Basra Governorate, as well as the List of largest cities of Iraq, third largest city in Iraq overall, behind Baghdad and Mosul. Located near the Iran–Iraq bor ...

(in present-day Iraq) and

Bandar Abbas Bandar Abbas (, ) is a city in the Central District of Bandar Abbas County, Hormozgan province, Iran, serving as capital of the province, the county, and the district. Bandar Abbas is a port on the southern coast of the country, on the Persian ...

(in present-day Iran). Armenians built two Churches and a

cemetery A cemetery, burial ground, gravesite, graveyard, or a green space called a memorial park or memorial garden, is a place where the remains of many death, dead people are burial, buried or otherwise entombed. The word ''cemetery'' (from Greek ...

in Surat. A

tombstone A gravestone or tombstone is a marker, usually stone, that is placed over a grave. A marker set at the head of the grave may be called a headstone. An especially old or elaborate stone slab may be called a funeral stele, stela, or slab. The us ...

in the city, dating back to 1579, bears Armenian

inscription Epigraphy () is the study of inscriptions, or epigraphs, as writing; it is the science of identifying graphemes, clarifying their meanings, classifying their uses according to dates and cultural contexts, and drawing conclusions about the wr ...

s. The second Church was built in 1778 and was dedicated to

Mary Mary may refer to: People * Mary (name), a female given name (includes a list of people with the name) Religion * New Testament people named Mary, overview article linking to many of those below * Mary, mother of Jesus, also called the Blesse ...

. An Armenian language

manuscript A manuscript (abbreviated MS for singular and MSS for plural) was, traditionally, any document written by hand or typewritten, as opposed to mechanically printed or reproduced in some indirect or automated way. More recently, the term has ...

written in 1678, currently preserved in Saltikov-Shchedrin Library,

St. Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea. The city had a population of 5,601, ...

, has an account of a permanent

colony A colony is a territory subject to a form of foreign rule, which rules the territory and its indigenous peoples separated from the foreign rulers, the colonizer, and their ''metropole'' (or "mother country"). This separated rule was often orga ...

of Armenians in Surat. The Armenians settled in

Chinsurah Hugli-Chuchura (), also known by its former names Chinsurah or Hooghly-Chinsurah, is a city of Hooghly district and the district headquarters of Hooghly division in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is one of the densely populated citie ...

, near

Calcutta Kolkata, also known as Calcutta (List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, its official name until 2001), is the capital and largest city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal. It lies on the eastern ba ...

West Bengal West Bengal (; Bengali language, Bengali: , , abbr. WB) is a States and union territories of India, state in the East India, eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabi ...

, and in 1697 built a Church there. This is the second oldest Church in

Bengal Bengal ( ) is a Historical geography, historical geographical, ethnolinguistic and cultural term referring to a region in the Eastern South Asia, eastern part of the Indian subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal. The region of Benga ...

and is still in well preserved on account of the care of the Calcutta Armenian Church Committee. In 1712, the Armenian Church of Chennai was built and there was a significant Armenian community in Chennai with valuable contributions to the city. Most notable was

Coja Petrus Uscan Coja Petrus Uscan (also Woskan, Voskan, 1680/81 – 1751) was an Armenian merchantry, Armenian merchant and leader of the Armenians, Armenian community of Chennai, Madras (a city now part of India) who was known for his immense wealth and unflin ...

who built the Marmalong bridge as charity.

Modern history

Indian President

Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan (; 5 September 188817 April 1975; natively Radhakrishna) was an Indian academician, philosopher and statesman who served as the President of India from 1962 to 1967. He previously served as the vice president of ...

visited the

Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic The Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic (ArSSR), also known as Soviet Armenia, or simply Armenia, was one of the Republics of the Soviet Union, constituent republics of the Soviet Union, located in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Soviet Armenia ...

in September 1964, and Prime Minister

Indira Gandhi Indira Priyadarshini Gandhi (Given name, ''née'' Nehru; 19 November 1917 – 31 October 1984) was an Indian politician and stateswoman who served as the Prime Minister of India, prime minister of India from 1966 to 1977 and again from 1980 un ...

visited in June 1976. India recognized Armenia on 26 December 1991, three months after it declared independence from the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

Diplomatic relations Diplomacy is the communication by representatives of state, intergovernmental, or non-governmental institutions intended to influence events in the international system.Ronald Peter Barston, ''Modern Diplomacy'', Pearson Education, 2006, p. ...

between India and Armenia were established on 31 August 1992. India opened its embassy in

on 1 March 1999. Armenia, which had opened an

honorary consulate A consul is an official representative of a government who resides in a foreign country to assist and protect citizens of the consul's country, and to promote and facilitate commercial and diplomatic relations between the two countries. A consu ...

in April 1994, established its embassy in

in October 1999. Armenian Presidents

Levon Ter-Petrosyan Levon Hakobi Ter-Petrosyan (; born 9 January 1946), also known by his initials LTP, is an Armenian politician and historian who served as the first president of Armenia from 1991 until his resignation in 1998. A senior researcher at the Matena ...

Robert Kocharyan Robert Sedraki Kocharyan ( ; born 31 August 1954) is an Armenian politician. He served as the President of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic from 1994 to 1997 and Prime Minister of Nagorno-Karabakh from 1992 to 1994. He served as the second Presiden ...

and

Serzh Sargsyan Serzh Azati Sargsyan (, ; born 30 June 1954)Official biography of Serzh Sargsyan

visited India in 1995, 2003 and 2017 respectively. In 2019 after an interview with

WION WION (World is One News) is an Indian English language news channel headquartered in Noida, India. WION is owned by the Essel Group and is a part of the Zee Media network of channels, whose majority owner is Subhash Chandra and family. As o ...

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

Nikol Pashinyan Nikol Vovayi Pashinyan (born 1 June 1975) is an Armenian politician who is serving as the 16th and current Prime Minister of Armenia, prime minister of Armenia since 8 May 2018. A journalist by profession, Pashinyan founded his own newspaper in ...

has stated that Armenia supports

in the

Kashmir conflict The Kashmir conflict is a territorial conflict over the Kashmir region, primarily between India and Pakistan, and also between China and India in the northeastern portion of the region. The conflict started after the partition of India in 1 ...

between India and Pakistan. Armenia signed an agreement to purchase four

Swathi Weapon Locating Radar The Swathi (''Very Beneficent'') weapon locating radar is a mobile artillery-locating, phased array radar developed by India. This counter-battery radar is designed to detect and track incoming artillery and rocket fire to determine the point ...

s for US$40 million from India in March 2020. In September 2022, Armenia signed an agreement worth to purchase four batteries of

Pinaka multi-barrel rocket launcher Pinaka () is a multiple rocket launcher produced in India and developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) for the Indian Army. The system has a maximum range of for Mark-I Enhanced and for Mark-II ER version, and can ...

s, anti-tank rockets, and various types of ammunition from India. Since 2022, India is also supplying anti-drone systems, ATAGS towed howitzers, TC-20 (MARG) Wheeled self-propelled howitzers, Ashwin Ballistic Missile Interceptors, and Akash air defence missiles to Armenia.

Armenian community in India

Cultural relationship

Armenia and India organised a joint issuing of postage stamps, illustrating the cultural heritage of the two nations. The Indian

Manipuri classical dance Manipuri dance, sometimes also referred to as the Manipuri Raas Leela (), is a jagoi and is one of the major Indian classical dance forms, originating from the state of Manipur. It is one of the Meitei intangible cultural heritage. The "Ma ...

of Meitei civilization, and the Armenian Hov Arek, are referred to as the "National Dances" (of India and Armenia respectively) during the Armenia-India joint issue of postage stamps. In 2025, Indian author Dr. Prashant Madanmohan organized the ''Indo-Armenian-French Art & Literary Confluence'' in Chennai, showcasing cultural unity through literature and art, including themes of memory, identity, and the Armenian Genocide.

Armenian genocide recognition

India has not recognized the

Armenian genocide The Armenian genocide was the systematic destruction of the Armenians, Armenian people and identity in the Ottoman Empire during World War I. Spearheaded by the ruling Committee of Union and Progress (CUP), it was implemented primarily t ...

. However, during World War I, when India was under British colonial rule, the country found itself at war against the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

, the predecessor of Turkey. Many Armenians sought refuge in India, most notably in

. With the relations between India and Turkey worsening since the 2010s, mainly due to Turkey's open support for

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

, which shares a similar stance with Turkey, there have been growing calls for recognition of the Armenian genocide in India. For the first time, under the

Premiership of Narendra Modi The premiership of Narendra Modi began 26 May 2014 with his swearing-in as the prime minister of India at the Rashtrapati Bhavan. He succeeded Manmohan Singh of the Indian National Congress (INC). Modi's first cabinet consisted of 45 ministe ...

, the Indian embassy in Armenia has mentioned the genocide and Indian ambassador Kishan Dan Dewal also paid respect to the victims of the genocide in 2021.

Resident diplomatic missions

;Armenia *

(Embassy) ;India *

(Embassy)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Armenia-India relations

Bilateral relations of India