President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan Sunday met Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in a closed-door meeting on the sidelines of the last day of the G-20 leaders' summit in New Delhi.
During the meeting, relations between the two countries were discussed in all their dimensions, while projects that would increase economic cooperation and bilateral trade volume, as well as current regional and international issues concerning both countries, were also on the agenda.
“Türkiye and India, which is our biggest trading partner in South Asia, have a serious potential in many fields, especially economy,” Erdoğan later told reporters.
He said there was now a “chance to realize this potential at a maximum level” since the uncertainty in Türkiye before the May elections has ended.
Trade volume between the pair rose from $5.7 billion in 2020 to $12.3 billion in 2022. Additionally, the states have a reciprocal investment worth approximately $375 million.
Türkiye and India have come to the fore as possible mediators for the Russia-Ukraine conflict as they maintained their dialogue with both sides, a stark contrast to the Western policy of sanctioning and alienating Russia.
Since President Vladimir Putin ordered one of Europe’s biggest wars since 1945 in February 2022, Ankara has hosted peace talks, negotiated prisoner swaps and brokered a now-collapsed vital deal to ensure grain shipments from Ukrainian ports and global food security.
New Delhi similarly stressed the need for diplomacy and dialogue on ending the war and has expressed its will to contribute to peace efforts.
Officials on both sides said they are in constant dialogue for efforts to facilitate peace between Ukraine and Russia.
Türkiye was among the first nations to recognize India's independence in 1947, opening a diplomatic mission the following year.
India was among the first countries to have reacted to the military coup attempt in Türkiye in 2016 by the Gülenist Terror Group (FETÖ) and had called for democracy as well as the mandate of the ballot while urging to avoid bloodshed.
It was also one of the first nations to send urgent humanitarian relief and rescue help to Türkiye in the wake of the devastating February earthquakes that killed over 52,000 people in the southeastern regions.
