New Delhi: India is keeping close watch after seven military cargo planes from Turkey landed in Pakistan since Sunday. The aircraft were clearly carrying military hardware to be used by Pakistan, in case war does break out with India.
While the exact contents of the aircraft are not known, defence experts suspect they could be carrying kamikaze drones also known as loitering munitions among other items. Cheap Turkish drones – particularly the Baryaktar TB2s – have been used in conflicts across the world.
Azerbaijan is known to have used them against Armenia. Even Ukraine used the Baryaktars against Russian armoured vehicles and artillery systems. Pakistan is known to have procured Baryaktar TB2 drones over a year ago.
“Turkey has also made advances in the design and manufacture of kamikaze drones like STM Kargu and Simsek. The transport aircraft may have been carrying some of these,” a defence expert in India said.
On Sunday, a Turkish Air Force C-130 Hercules landed at Karachi and unloaded cargo. At the same time, six other Turkish transport aircraft landed in Islamabad with supplies.
India is justifiably concerned with this nascent Turkey-Pakistan-China nexus after Tuesday’s terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pahalgam that resulted in the death of 26 persons, mainly tourists. While China did offer condolences, it assisted Pakistan in diluting the UN’s stand against the massacre.
What has caught India’s particular attention is the Turkish effort to jump into the fray. India had launched major rescue and relief operations in Turkey after the 2023 earthquake there.
Experts believe that this direct intervention by Turkey pulls South Asia into a more militarized and polarized future, making peacekeeping more difficult in an already restive region.
