Turkey blacklists India with a defense export ban in favor of Pakistan. The relationship between India and Turkey has been really bad since the past ten years in which Pakistan and Turkey are moving closer to each other. Now it seems that Ankara’s strong links with Pakistan are a nail in the coffin in the relationship between Turkey and India.
During a Foreign Affairs Committee debate on July 10, 2024, Mustafa Murat Seker, the deputy chairman of Turkey’s top arms procurement agency (SSB), accidentally revealed the government’s secret strategy regarding India. Turkey has effectively blacklisted India for weapons exports.
Under President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s leadership, Turkish-Indian relations have sharply declined over the past decade. This is mainly due to policy decisions and Ankara’s strong support of Pakistan in its disputes with India.
Turkey blacklists India is not surprising since Turkey and India often clash on geostrategic issues. With Turkey and Pakistan growing closer, India has opposed Turkey on international matters. India took a stand in the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict and has sided with Greece in the Aegean Sea dispute. In April, India canceled a contract with a Turkish ship-building firm and welcomed the Chief of the Hellenic National Defense General Staff at a fighter base.
Mustafa Murat Seker called his disclosure sensitive. He told lawmakers that the government has not approved any military sales to India. Despite the risk of fallout with India, the secret ban has become public. Nordic Monitor obtained the minutes.
“India, for example, is one of the world’s top five arms importers, a massive market, importing close to $100 billion. However, due to our political circumstances and our friendship with Pakistan, our Ministry of Foreign Affairs does not give us positive feedback on exporting any products to India, and consequently, we do not grant any permits to our companies in this regard,” he said.
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How Will This Ban Affect India?
India will not be affected by the Turkey’s prohibition as India have already canceled
$2 billion naval contract with Turkish defense company and terminated the weapon shipment to Ankara. Now India is emphasizing on making weapons at home rather than importing them and depending on other countries for them.
Due to this the production of domestic weapons and ammunition have reached record high as in 2022-2023 defense output was almost RS 108684 crore. Over the previous five years the defense production value have increases by 60 % which is a very good thing for India. Moreover, India have also started to export weapons instead of importing them.
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