One of the most striking features of the India-Pakistan crisis post the dastardly terror attacks in Pahalgam has been Turkey’s open support for Pakistan. If China played its hand rather subtly, Turkey decided to come out explicitly. While Turkey’s ties with Pakistan have indeed been growing in the last few years, it is only in matters of war and peace that nations reveal their real intent.
While key players in the Islamic world have been reorienting their South Asia policy in favour of India, Turkey has continued to build its strategic ties with Pakistan. Under the leadership of Recep Tayyip Erdogan, New Delhi-Ankara ties have witnessed a significant decline despite a growing trade relationship. Turkey has been consistently supporting Pakistan’s position on Kashmir even as Islamabad has reciprocated by backing Ankara’s claims on Cyprus. As recently as February this year, Erdogan had asserted that “Turkey, as in the past, stands in solidarity with our Kashmiri brothers today.” And he had sought to use global platforms like the UNGA to raise the pitch on this issue.
After underlining that achieving a “just and lasting peace in Kashmir through dialogue and cooperation between India and Pakistan” would pave the way for regional peace, stability, and prosperity in South Asia in his UNGA address in 2023, Erdogan decided to eschew this in his 2024 address, partly because he was trying to get Turkey into the BRICS grouping then.
But more serious for Indian security interests has been the burgeoning defence ties between Turkey and Pakistan. The two nations signed of the ‘Deepening, Diversifying, and Institutionalizing the Strategic Partnership’ declaration in February 2025 which posits building a security partnership between the two nations. Marked by collaborative military projects, joint exercises, and strategic dialogues, Turkey and Pakistan have significantly strengthened their defence ties in recent years.
Turkey is now Pakistan’s second-largest arms supplier after China since the signing of joint arms production pact in 2021 with reports suggesting around 10 per cent of Turkey’s total arms exports between 2020 and 2024 going to Pakistan. From MILGEM-class stealth corvettes and F-16 Fighting Falcon jets to Bayraktar TB2 armed UAVs and Kemankes cruise missiles, the list of Turkish defence supplies to Pakistan has continued to grow. As India was calibrating its response against Pakistan after the Pahalgam massacre, Turkish C-130 Hercules transport planes carrying military cargo reportedly landed in Pakistan which was followed by the docking of Turkish naval vessel in Karachi.
After India struck the terror camps of Pakistan and PoK on May 7, Erdogan called Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif in a show of solidarity, supporting what he called Pakistan’s “calm and restrained policies” in the crisis and the Turkish Foreign Ministry suggested that India created the risk of an “all-out war.” During Operation Sindoor, Pakistan deployed Turkishmanufactured Songar armed drone systems, which were neutralised by India’s air defense systems.
Turkey’s explicit diplomatic and military positioning against India in the recent crisis has brought Ankara’s behaviour in limelight with a public view that India’s policy towards Turkey needs a reconsideration. But a re-evaluation has already been in place for some time as New Delhi has sought to deepen its ties with nations like Greece, Cyprus and Armenia. India’s proactive policy posture in the Middle East by seeking to build robust strategic ties with key players in the GCC such as Saudi Arabia and the UAE as well as part of emerging platforms like I2U2 and IMEC is also aimed at challenging Turkish expansionism.
Ultimately, for Erdogan it is imperative that Turkey be seen as a leader in the Islamic world, at times challenging Saudi Arabia’s traditional leadership role. This also sustains his leadership at home where he has gradually reversed Turkey’s strict secularist legacy, promoting Islamic values in culture and governance. He has taken a strong public stance against Israel’s operations in Gaza, positioning Turkey as a voice for Palestinian rights, as well as condemned Myanmar’s persecution of Rohingya Muslims and offered humanitarian aid to refugees in Bangladesh.
As a consequence, it is unlikely that Turkish policies towards India will change anytime soon and in fact, if anything, the Turkish-Pakistan partnership is only likely to get stronger in the future. New Delhi’s offer of friendship, as was reflected in India providing humanitarian assistance to Turkey after the devastating earthquake in February 2023, is not likely to yield any long term dividend. The challenge for India is real and serious when it comes to the growing Turkey-Pakistan entanglement.