India is not a serious country: New Delhi under fire for rewarding known Pakistan-backer Turkey
India is not a serious country: New Delhi under fire for rewarding known Pakistan-backer Turkey
India’s continued commercial and diplomatic engagement with Turkey has drawn sharp criticism from national security experts and policy commentators, especially in light of Ankara’s deepening defence ties with Pakistan and repeated endorsement of Islamabad’s position on Kashmir.
The backlash intensified after a report revealed that Turkish Airlines is reaping major benefits from its codeshare partnership with IndiGo, India’s largest airline. The two carriers operate joint flights to more than 30 European and US destinations under a long-standing agreement, with Turkish Airlines gaining disproportionate advantage, according to an Economic Times report.
Sushant Sareen, Senior Fellow at the Observer Research Foundation, voiced strong disapproval of India’s ongoing cooperation with Turkey. “India is not a serious country. We feed snakes and then wonder why they bite us,” he wrote while reacting to the report. “We reward our enemies and treat our friends shabbily. We delude ourselves that countries like Turkey will give up their hostility. They benefit from us and then stab us openly.”
Echoing the sentiment, Rajeev Mantri, founder and managing director of Navam Capital, criticised the Indian government’s approach to national security versus economic diplomacy. He said three-four years ago Turkey had made it clear, that Baykar offensive drones would be sold to Pakistan and not India.
“The same drones have also been sold to Bangladesh. What did India do? Permitted/encouraged its airlines to collaborate with Turkish Airlines, also launched Operation Dost to help Turkey after it was devastated by an earthquake. At the same time, Indian defence drone developers don’t clear orders from our own armed forces. When they clear orders, payment is not released for months on end. Yes, India is not a serious country,” he said, backing Sareen’s stance.
The codeshare agreement allows passengers to book through either carrier while flying across a shared network of destinations, including major US cities such as New York, Boston, Chicago, San Francisco, Houston, and Atlanta. As of December 2024, IndiGo had similar arrangements with nine other global carriers.
Tensions have escalated after six Turkish military transport aircraft reportedly landed in Pakistan last Sunday, delivering defence cargo. This development came just days after 26 civilians were killed in a terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pahalgam, an operaion carried out by Pakistan-based terrorist groups.
Turkey has supplied Pakistan with Bayraktar TB2 and Akinci drones, and the two countries are collaborating on the KAAN fifth-generation fighter jet. In February 2025, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, during a visit to Pakistan, backed Islamabad’s position on Kashmir, saying the issue should be addressed according to the UN resolution through dialogue and keeping in mind the aspirations of the people of Kashmir.
The Turkish tilt has sparked calls in India to reconsider aviation and tourism ties. Vikram Chandra, journalist and Editorji founder, questioned why Indians continue to use Istanbul as a European transit point. “I fail to understand why Indians travel to Europe via Istanbul! Along with China, Turkey is the one solid and constant supporter of Pakistan – and always has been. India should instead build relations with Turkey’s key regional rival Greece. It’s strange that there are so many direct flights to Istanbul and none to Athens,” he wrote on X.
Former Indian Foreign Secretary Kanwal Sibal went further, suggesting flight suspensions: “We can consider suspending our flights to Turkey and Turkish flights to India for the time being.”
Original News Source: LINK