New Delhi: Turkey’s open support for Pakistan in the recent military conflict with India, post Operation Sindoor, triggered a fierce backlash against the President Recep Tayyip Erdogan-headed country.
Even as #banTurkey calls resonated through India, the Central government took steps too, like suspending security clearance for Turkey-based Celebi which handled ground operations in nine major Indian airports.
Now, in a strong message to Turkey, the Indian government said that New Delhi expects Ankara to encourage Pakistan to address the problem of cross-border terrorism emanating from its soil.
India also made it clear that bilateral relations are built on mutual respect and sensitivities of each other’s concerns.
“We expect Turkey to strongly urge Pakistan to end its support to cross-border terrorism and take credible and verifiable actions against the terror ecosystem it has harboured for decades. Relations are built on the basis of sensitivities to each other’s concerns,” External Affairs ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said at a press briefing on Thursday.
Besides ideological and moral support to Islamabad, Turkey also provided arms and weapons to Pakistan. Around 300-400 drones used by Pakistan during the four-day hostilities from May 7-10 were provided by Turkey. The drones targeted military and civilian areas of 36 cities in northern and western India.
India on Thursday said that it expects Turkey to ‘strongly urge’ Pakistan to end its support to cross-border terrorism and take action against the terrorist ecosystem.
“We expect Turkey to strongly urge Pakistan to end its support to cross-border terrorism and take credible and verifiable actions against the terror ecosystem it has harboured for decades,” the Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said.
“Relations are built based on sensitivities to each other’s concerns,” he added.
What Doval told Chinese Foreign Minister
Jaiswal also spoke about the May 10 call between National Security Advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval and Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi.
“Our NSA and the Chinese Foreign Minister and Special Representative on Boundary Issue Wang Yi had spoken to each other on 10th May 2025, when NSA conveyed India’s resolute stance against cross-border terrorism emanating from Pakistan,” Jaiswal said.
“The Chinese side is well aware that mutual trust, mutual respect and mutual sensitivity remain the basis of India-China relations,” he added.
Doval had told Wang that war was not India’s choice, but New Delhi had to take counter-terrorism action following the deadly April 22 Pahalgam attack, according to Chinese state-run Xinhua news agency.