Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan (L) and Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrive for a photo opportunity ahead of ... Read More

NEW DELHI: India responded firmly to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s remarks on a “multilateral” approach to Jammu & Kashmir, explaining to the visiting leader on Monday that it was willing to settle outstanding issues bilaterally. For his part, Erdogan backed India’s fight against terrorism.

India used a high-level summit with Turkey to deliver a comeback to the widely publicised remarks Erdogan had made just before his visit. The response was particularly important on a day when Pakistani troops beheaded Indian soldiers in a cross-LoC attack and days after three soldiers died in a terror strike in Kupwara, J&K.

On Monday, India and Turkey took a similar stand on terrorism. Describing the constantly evolving threat of terrorism as “a shared worry”, PM Modi said, “I held an extensive conversation with the Turkish president on this subject. We agreed that no intent or goal or reason or rationale can validate terrorism.”

Modi’s comments at a joint press conference were endorsed by Erdogan who said Turkey “will always be with India in its battle against terror... And terrorists will be drowned in the blood they shed”. Briefing the media, MEA spokesperson Gopal Baglay said, “India’s stand is clear, that undivided Kashmir is an integral part of India. We don’t want to get into what statements were made before the visit. We discussed our position in detail and India’s stand on Kashmir and that there can be no justification to terrorism.”

Modi also declared a trade target of $10 billion by 2020 and invited Turkish companies to invest in various sectors and industries. “The president and I are clear that the strength of our economies presents an enormous opportunity to expand and deepen commercial linkages between our countries,” Modi said. Erdogan was accompanied by his foreign minister Mevlut Cavusoglu economy minister Nihat Zeybekci, energy minister Berat Albayrak, culture and tourism minister Nabi Avci, minister for transport, communications and maritime affairs, and Turkey’s Chief of General Staff, Gen Hulusi Akar.

Erdogan expressed interest in Turkish participation in “Make in India” programme and “Smart City Mission”. Modi, giving an account of the talks, said both countries would work together bilaterally and multilaterally to counter terrorism. A joint statement released in the evening said, “We have been victims of cross-border and state-sponsored terrorism. But on the political issues, we were clear that all issues have to be resolved bilaterally. They listened with care and attention to what we had to say,” Baglay said.

Erdogan’s selective condemnation of the Sukma terror attack but silence on the Kashmir attacks has raised eyebrows, so New Delhi gave Erdogan a patient hearing when he focused his ire on FETO, the Fethullah Gulen organisation which he said was present in India. Erdogan’s visit to India comes soon after winning a referendum giving him sweeping powers, which has gone down poorly in the Western world. To that extent, the Indian visit confers a degree of legitimacy on his new position.

Turkey’s Pakistan leanings are not new. But India reckons this is no reason to not engage one of the largest economies in the Levant. More important, Turkey has big advantages in the construction and real estate sectors, while India wants to leverage its skills in the IT sector and in space technology.

