India and Turkey’s relations have never been in sync for the last decade and it appears that Ankara’s close ties with Pakistan are set to prove the final nail in the coffin of its relations with New Delhi. Turkey has imposed this discreet ban in favor of Pakistan, according to reports. A Turkish government official disclosed this information during a closed-door session in the Turkish Parliament.
According to the minutes of the Foreign Affairs Committee debate on July 10, 2024, Mustafa Murat Seker, deputy chairman of the Presidency of the Defense Industry (SSB), Turkey’s leading arms procurement agency, inadvertently revealed the government’s secret policy regarding India. Virtually, India has been blacklisted by Turkey when it comes to defense export.
Turkish–Indian relations have deteriorated significantly over the past decade under President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s administration, primarily due to policy decisions, particularly Ankara’s unwavering support for Pakistan in its conflicts with India.
According to NordicMonitor, President Erdogan’s clandestine paramilitary group SADAT, led by his former chief military aide Adnan Tanriverdi, has been implicated in anti-India activities. The group recruited Syed Ghulam Nabi Fai, a Kashmiri-born individual who served time in a US federal prison, to gather resources against India.
Fai’s US-based organization, the Kashmiri American Council (KAC), which received funding from Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), collaborated with SADAT’s front organization, the Union of NGOs of the Islamic World (Islam Dünyasi Sivil Toplum Kuruluslari Birligi, IDSB ).
However, Turkey’s ban is not going to affect India. India has already revoked a $2-billion naval deal with a Turkish defense company and canceled defense exports to Ankara. With New Delhi focusing on Make In India in defence, the manufacturing of indigenous arms and ammunition has touched a record high in recent years. The value of defense production in FY 2022-23 was Rs 1,08,684 crore. In the last five years (since 2019-20), the value of defense production has been increasing steadily, and grown by over 60%.
India’s defense exports have also surged recently. It may be recalled that defense exports touched a record-high of Rs 21,083 crore in FY 2023-24, reflecting a growth of 32.5% over the last fiscal when the figure was Rs 15,920 crore.