The Indian Government has decided to call off Indian PM Narendra Modi’s proposed meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. Erdogan had criticized India at the United Nations General Assembly on behest of Pakistan after New Delhi removed the special status from Jammu and Kashmir.
This can be seen as one of the measures adopted by India to express its displeasure pertaining to the anti-India comments made by the Turkish President, Recip Erdogan in his UNGA address.
Erdogan in his speech criticised the decisions taken by India in August wherein the Indian government declared the abrogation of Article 370 and the division of the state of Jammu and Kashmir into two Union Territories.
Besides China and Turkey, Pakistan also managed to get Malaysia on its side who also criticised India’s moves in Jammu and Kashmir. Malaysian PM Mahathir bin Mohamad said New Delhi has ‘invaded and occupied Kashmir’ a statement which created a furore in India.
India Critical of Turkey’s Actions In Syria
After Erdogan’s outburst against New Delhi, the Indian government has been very critical of the actions of the Turkish military in Syria which also played a role in India’s decision to cancel the meeting between the two leaders.
The meeting between the two leaders was discussed in Osaka when both of them met in June but recently the dynamics of the bilateral relationship between India and Turkey have significantly changed.
India has also reportedly cancelled the selection of Turkey’s Anadolu Shipyard to develop naval support ships following the comments of Turkish President at the UNGA.
Anadolu’s commitment towards the Pakistan navy is also being cited as a reason due to which India is not keen to take the deal forward. The direction in which the bilateral relationship between India and Turkey goes from here is something that remains to be seen in the near future.
