Expert Explains: What plagues India-Turkey relations, and why a reset may be of common interest

India and Turkey held their 12th round of Foreign Office Consultations on April 8, 2026 in New Delhi — the first such meeting in four years — signalling a ca...

What Happened

India and Turkey held their 12th round of Foreign Office Consultations on April 8, 2026 in New Delhi — the first such meeting in four years — signalling a cautious attempt to revive strained bilateral ties.
Both sides reviewed the full spectrum of bilateral relations, covering trade and investment, tourism, technology, energy, education, cultural cooperation, and counter-terrorism.
The reset effort follows a period of severely strained relations: Turkey's military support to Pakistan during the May 2025 India-Pakistan conflict (Operation Sindoor) — including supply of several hundred drones and deployment of military operatives — had triggered a sharp diplomatic and economic backlash in India, including public boycotts of Turkish tourism and goods.
Despite the tensions, both countries acknowledge shared interests in trade expansion, Global South diplomacy, UNSC reform, and counter-terrorism cooperation, which form the basis for a pragmatic reset.
Strategic analysts note that a durable reset requires "de-hyphenation" — disentangling bilateral relations from the India-Pakistan and Turkey-Cyprus/Armenia fault lines respectively.

Static Topic Bridges

Historical Trajectory of India-Turkey Relations

India and Turkey established diplomatic relations in 1948, shortly after both nations completed post-war and post-colonial transitions. For the first four decades, relations were limited by Cold War alignments — Turkey was a NATO member in the Western Bloc, India a leader of the Non-Aligned Movement. A period of warmer engagement followed in the 2000s.

Diplomatic relations established: 1948.
India and Turkey signed a Strategic Partnership in 2008, reflecting improved ties.
Bilateral trade grew from approximately USD 700 million in the early 2000s to USD 13.82 billion by FY 2022-23.
Turkey criticised India's revocation of Jammu & Kashmir's special status (Article 370) in August 2019 at the United Nations — a rare instance of a non-Muslim-majority country publicly supporting Pakistan's position.
FY 2024-25 bilateral trade fell to approximately USD 8.71 billion, a contraction of nearly 37% from FY22-23 peaks, driven by post-Sindoor boycotts and diplomatic tension.

Connection to this news: The 2026 Foreign Office Consultations represent the first structured attempt to rebuild the relationship since the 2019 Article 370 rift deepened, and more acutely since Turkey's role in the 2025 conflict.

The Kashmir-Pakistan-Turkey Triangle

Turkey's support for Pakistan on the Kashmir issue is the most persistent structural irritant in India-Turkey relations. Turkey frames its position through Islamic solidarity and the broader principle of Muslim minority rights; India frames Turkey's support as interference in its internal affairs and violation of bilateral norms.

Turkey has raised the Kashmir issue at the UN General Assembly in multiple years since 2019, often in tandem with Pakistan.
Turkey does not recognise the 2019 reorganisation of J&K into two Union Territories as legitimate.
India's reciprocal irritant: support for Greece and Cyprus in their maritime disputes with Turkey (EEZ in the Eastern Mediterranean), and India's warm relations with Armenia — Turkey's historical adversary — dating to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict context.
During Operation Sindoor (May 2025), Turkish-origin Bayraktar TB2 drones and Asisguard Songar drones were deployed by Pakistan against Indian military positions; Turkish military advisors were reportedly involved in coordinating drone operations.

Connection to this news: The 12th Foreign Office Consultation explicitly included counter-terrorism on the agenda — signalling India's expectation that Turkey must separate its Pakistani alliance from its relationship with India on security matters.

Turkey's Geopolitical Positioning and India's Strategic Calculus

Turkey occupies a unique geopolitical position: a NATO member, a candidate EU member, a member of the G20, and a significant Muslim-majority regional power straddling Europe and Asia. Under its current leadership, Turkey has pursued an increasingly independent foreign policy, engaging simultaneously with Western allies, Russia, Iran, and the Islamic world.

Turkey is a member of NATO (since 1952) but has maintained trade and energy relationships with Russia, including the TurkStream gas pipeline.
Turkey was the 11th largest economy in the world by nominal GDP in 2023; it is a major arms manufacturer (Baykar drones, FNSS armoured vehicles) with growing defence exports.
Turkey supports India's bid for a permanent UNSC seat — a point of convergence despite bilateral tensions.
India-Turkey trade complementarities exist in pharmaceuticals, textiles, machinery, chemicals, and agriculture.
Proposed bilateral trade target: USD 20 billion within five years (from ~USD 10 billion in FY24), potentially via a Free Trade Agreement.

Connection to this news: The reset discussions are pragmatically motivated — both countries have economic and multilateral reasons to avoid permanent rupture, even as the military-strategic differences (especially over Pakistan) remain unresolved.

De-hyphenation as a Diplomatic Strategy

"De-hyphenation" in Indian foreign policy refers to the practice of managing bilateral relationships on their own terms, independent of their linkage to a third country or conflict. India has applied this most famously to its US relationship (de-hyphenating it from India-Pakistan dynamics) and has similarly sought to de-hyphenate India-China from India-Pakistan.

Applied to India-Turkey: de-hyphenation would mean Turkey no longer conditions its India relationship on Pakistan's preferences, and India no longer conditions its Turkey relationship on the Cyprus/Greece/Armenia disputes.
This approach requires political willingness from both sides to compartmentalise sensitive issues from economic and diplomatic engagement.
India has successfully practised de-hyphenation with Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries — many of which have close Pakistan ties — enabling robust economic and labour migration partnerships.

Connection to this news: Analysts cited in coverage of the 12th Foreign Office Consultation explicitly called for de-hyphenation as the precondition for a sustainable India-Turkey reset, linking it to the broader concept of issue-based bilateral management.

Key Facts & Data

Diplomatic relations established: 1948
Strategic Partnership signed: 2008
Foreign Office Consultations (12th round): April 8, 2026, New Delhi — first in four years
Bilateral trade peak: USD 13.82 billion (FY 2022-23)
Bilateral trade FY 2024-25: approximately USD 8.71 billion (contraction of ~37%)
Proposed trade target: USD 20 billion within five years
Article 370 abrogation (India's J&K): August 5, 2019 — Turkey was among countries to criticise
Operation Sindoor (May 2025): Turkey supplied approximately 350+ drones and deployed military advisors to Pakistan
Indian tourist arrivals to Turkey: fell 37% in June 2025 post-Sindoor
Turkey's NATO membership: since 1952
Turkey's stance on UNSC: supports India's permanent membership bid
Key agenda items at 12th FOC: trade, investment, tourism, technology, energy, education, culture, counter-terrorism