New Delhi: Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan Wednesday urged India to not be “resentful” of Ankara’s ties with Islamabad, but rather view ties with the Eurasian nation through a bilateral lens. Turkey, Fidan highlighted, had enough reasons to have a good relationship with India.
“We really would like to have excellent relations with India. We do not have any border with India, we do not have any outside bilateral issue with India, we do not have a bad history with India. On the contrary, we have every good reason to have a good relationship,” Fidan said while speaking at the Raffles Lecture organised by the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) in Singapore.
The Turkish Foreign Minister added: “Turkey is not the only country that has good relations with Pakistan, and historical solidarity with Pakistan on some given issues. For instance, our differences with Russia on certain issues, with the US on certain issues, with some European countries on certain issues, but we are able to divorce one negative issue from another… and we can go on with a positive agenda. I think this is what needs to be done between Turkey and India.”
Ties between India and Turkey fractured last year following Ankara’s support for Pakistan during Operation Sindoor. Indian officials skipped Turkish National Day celebrations in the national capital last year, indicating the extent of New Delhi’s irritation with Ankara. Turkey has repeatedly raised its voice in support of Pakistan’s stance on Jammu and Kashmir, labelling India’s Operation Sindoor as an “unprovoked aggression” killing “innocent civilians”.
The India-Turkey relationship remained in cold storage for the better part of the year since Operation Sindoor. However, in April 2026, the two countries held the 12th Foreign Office Consultations (FOC), indicating a potential thaw in ties.
“We have a lot to cooperate, to benefit, and we are mature enough to go in this (positive) direction. Turkey is not the only country which has good and brotherly relations with Pakistan, there are other countries. If India is going to take action or be resentful about any country having good relations and giving support to Pakistan, I do not know,” said Fidan.
He added: “As I said, we have no problem bilaterally with India and we urge India to not read the issue from a different perspective.”
Ankara’s growing defence manufacturing industry has seen Pakistan purchase Turkish-made unmanned aerial vehicles, which were used in its response to Operation Sindoor last May. Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif was on a visit to Turkey when the terrorist attack in Pahalgam occurred, leaving 26 people dead.
The India-Turkey diplomatic chill has seen New Delhi deepen its engagement with Cyprus, the Mediterranean island country that has been locked in a territorial dispute with Ankara since 1974. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s first international visit following the Pahalgam attack and Operation Sindoor was to Nicosia, the capital of Cyprus.
More recently, Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides paid a state visit to India between 20 May and 23 May, underlining the growing convergences between New Delhi and Nicosia in a number of sectors including on territorial dispute, free trade and the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC).
Turkey is also unhappy with the IMEC, which originally envisioned a route to Europe from India via West Asia. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in 2023 had pushed back against the IMEC, hours after leaving New Delhi. The Turkish President had been in India for the G20 Leaders’ Summit.
Ankara has also deepened its engagement with Beijing, backing the One Belt One Road (BRI) initiative, which is China’s marquee transport infrastructure development project.
(Edited by Viny Mishra)
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