In Istanbul, just two weeks after a military conflict between Islamabad and New Delhi, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan spoke with Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.
According to Erdogan’s office, the two nations will work together to improve cooperation, particularly in those fields of defense, energy, and transportation.
Erdogan told Sharif that Turkey and Pakistan should promote greater cooperation in education, intelligence sharing, and technological assistance in the fight against “terrorism,” according to the Turkiye president’s office.
The meeting in the Turkish capital comes as India is emboldening Ankara over its alleged supply of weapons to Islamabad during the most recent conflict between the two South Asian neighbors. Pakistan has disputed the shipment of weapons to Ankara.
After India carried out military attacks on nine sites in Pakistan and Pakistan-administered Kashmir in recent weeks, Erdogan had expressed his support for Pakistan. According to New Delhi, the attacks were carried out in response to a 22-year-old armed fighters’ April 22 attack on tourists in Pahalgam, India’s-administered Kashmir, which resulted in the deaths of 25 Indians and one Nepalese national. Pakistan has alleged indirectly supporting the attack, which Pakistan denies.
Turkiye supported Islamabad’s request for an international investigation into the Pahalgam attack, citing the risk of an “all-out war” between the nuclear-armed neighbors. Turkiye also urged both sides to “show good sense” to lower the tensions.
On May 10, the two nations made a ceasefire announcement.
In India, Turkiye is the target of criticism.
Both Pakistan and Turkiye have long had enmity over their military and economic relations.
Erdogan and Islamabad met in February and signed 24 cooperation agreements to strengthen bilateral ties.
India’s External Affairs Ministry spokeswoman last week to reveal that “relations are built on the basis of sensibilities to each other’s concerns.” This was a sign of India’s disapproval of Ankara.
At a press conference on Thursday, Randhir Jaiswal stated that “we expect Pakistan to strongly urge Pakistan to end its support for cross-border terrorism and take credible and verifiable steps against the terror ecosystem it has harbored for decades.”
In addition, leading online fashion retailers and grocery stores in India have suspended sales of clothing and other Turkish goods, including clothing and chocolates.
Numerous Turkish clothing brands were removed from Indian websites owned by Flipkart Retail and Reliance, which are owned by billionaire Mukesh Ambani.
However, the bulk of Turkiye’s annual $2.7 billion in imports of goods are made up of precious metals and mineral fuels. Given the straining ties, we are still unsure of the impact the bilateral trade will have.
In “solidarity with India’s national interest and sovereignty,” Indian travel companies also suspended bookings for flights, hotels, and vacation packages to Turkiye.
Source: Aljazeera
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