Turkey and India tie-up to fight terror

NEW DELHI: Turkey and India has sought each other assistance in fight against international terror amid both PM Narendra Modi and Turkish President Erdogan narratives against international extremism affecting the two countries.

Senior Turkish Minister Lufti Elvan who holds Development portfolio met Home Minister Rajnath Singh and apprised him of presence of schools here funded by Gulen blamed by the Erdogan government for aborted July coup. "India is very sensitive to terrorism. India has suffered from terror and understands our pain. We sympathise with India. We hope India also supports our position. Indian PM has assured that his government will keep an eye on Gulen schools. I discussed the matter with Minister Singh," Elvan told ET in an exclusive chat here.

Pointing out that Singh had briefly raised the issue of Kashmir with him the visiting Minister said Turkey supports only a bilateral mechanism to address the imbroglio indicating that there is no scope for role of international community in the issue. Turkey could host a key OIC meet in January where Kashmir could be an item on agenda of discussions.

Referring to the growing Indo-Turkish ties the Minister said last five years has witnessed manifold activities across political and economic sectors as compared to two decades before that. "Today bilateral trade is six billion USD but this has scope of increasing three folds. India is a powerhouse in this region. Similarly Turkey is a powerhouse in the region where it is located. There are huge complementaries between two economies and we are striving for JVs and cross investments across IT, pharmaceutical, construction and infrastructure sectors."