New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday pitched for deeper economic engagement and partnership with Turkey on Monday and held wide-ranging talks with the visiting President Recept Tayyip Erdogan at the Hyderabad House. Erdogan is on a day-long visit to India along with over 100 member strong business and industry delegation. Both leaders after ceremonial welcome at the Rashtrapati Bhawan addressed a FICCI-CII business summit.
Erdogan arrived in New Delhi on Sunday evening and seems to have created a stir by calling for “multilateral dialogue” on the Kashmir dispute, something India has always sought to bilaterally sort out with its rival Pakistan. He made the comment in an interview to WION news channel ahead of his 30 April-1 May visit.
Here are the latest updates and developments related to Erdogan’s India visit so far:
■ Constant threat of terrorism is our shared worry, says PM Modi after talks with the Turkish president. (PTI)
■ Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan pitched free trade agreement with India as a starting point to expand the ambit of bilateral economic ties. The visiting president said the two countries should also explore the possibility of trade in local currency to deal with exchange rate fluctuations.
Addressing the India-Turkey Business Summit in presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, he said the relationship between the two is based on friendship.
“We should increase our business and economic relationship... If we can also start comprehensive economic relations negotiations, that would be great,” Erdogan said.
The visiting president further said the Turkish-India business council should be a more active mechanism.
“It would be also good to start free trade agreement (FTA) talks. This would also add further momentum to our relations,” he said.
He, however, noted that the bilateral trade volume is skewed against Turkey. Of the total $6.5 billion trade, Turkey’s export was only about $650 million.
“The trade volume should be balanced as fast as possible. Steps should be taken to achieve that...,” the president added.
Turkish companies have pumped in about $212 million whereas Indian investment in Turkey reads nearly $100 million.
Erdogan termed Turkey as “an ideal hub” for investment and production, given its geographic location, and invited Indian companies to put in capital. The businessmen of the two countries, he suggested, can also join hands to explore investment opportunities in third countries.
Projecting his country as an ideal tourist destination, the president said Indian families are increasingly organising wedding ceremonies in Turkey in recent times.
“Therefore, we would like to host more Indian tourists in Turkey... you can come to Turkey for honeymoon. We would like to host you in Turkey,” Erdogan added. He also stressed on further developing collaboration between Turkish Airline and Air India. (PTI)
■ PM Modi and president Erdogan reviewed the status of bilateral ties, including in key areas of security and trade, and discussed regional and international issues of mutual concern.
Ways to strengthen bilateral cooperation in the area of counter-terrorism, India’s NSG membership bid and the regional security scenario were among key issues that were understood to have been discussed during the Modi-Erdogan meeting, according to official sources.
“New impetus to a multifarious relationship. Prime Minister Narendra Modi receives president Erdogan at Hyderabad House,” MEA Spokesperson Gopal Baglay tweeted.
Earlier, External Affairs minister Sushma Swaraj called on the visiting president. “Important engagement for the State guest. External Affairs Minister @SushmaSwaraj calls on President Erdogan, welcomes him before delegation level talks,” Baglay said.
This is Erdogan’s first foreign tour after winning a controversial referendum on 16 April that further consolidated his executive powers. The Turkish leader arrived here yesterday on a two-day visit. (PTI)
■ Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday invited Turkish businesses to invest in sectors like energy, rail, road, ports and housing, saying India was never a better investment destination than it is now.
Addressing business leaders present at the India-Turkey Business Summit, which was also attended by visiting Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Modi stressed the need for a substantial increase in the economic engagement between the two countries.
The prime minister said although the bilateral trade between India and Turkey has gone up to $6.4 billion in 2016 from 2.8 billion in 2008, it is still far behind the real potential.
“India and Turkey enjoy good economic ties... While this (trade growth) is encouraging, the level of present economic and commercial relation is not enough against the real potential,” Modi said.
Observing that India and Turkey, which are among the top 20 economies of the world with strong fundamentals, can substantially increase bilateral cooperation in several areas, the Indian prime minister said, “The time has come to make aggressive effort to deepen relationship and enhance bilateral engagement.”
Promising a business friendly environment, Modi said the Turkish construction companies can participate in India’s infrastructure sector development, especially in sectors like ports, rail, housing, energy, hydrocarbon, tourism, textiles and auto.
Modi also highlighted India’s low-cost manufacturing capabilities before the Turkish businessmen while seeking investment.
Speaking on the occasion, Turkish President Erdogan also made a strong case for deepening and strengthening bilateral ties to achieve the actual trade potential between the two nations. He also suggested that India and Turkey should initiate free-trade agreement talks and look for possibility of bilateral trade in domestic currencies to tide over the issue of exchange rate fluctuation.
“We should increase our business and economic relationship...if we can also start the comprehensive economic relations negotiation that would be great...It would be also good to start free-trade agreement talks. This would also add further momentum to our relations,” he said.
Erdogan, however, underlined the need for balancing the trade saying it was highly in favour of India. He also called upon Indian businessmen to increase investments in Turkey stressing that his country was “ideal place for investment and production”.
The businessmen of the two countries, he said, could also join hand to explore investment opportunities in third countries. (PTI)
Also read | Modi, Erdogan to meet today, Kashmir, NSG membership key issues
■ External affairs minister Sushma Swaraj earlier called on Erdogan, welcoming him before delegation-level talks, tweeted ministry’s spokesperson Gopal Baglay.
■ The Turkish president is accompanied by a business delegation with more than 100 members and is looking for an opportunity to push bilateral trade which is at $6.5 billion at the moment.
■ Politically, India and Turkey have many differences—on India’s bid to become a member of the Nuclear Suppliers’ Group (NSG) or on Turkey’s stance on Kashmir where it’s closer to Pakistan than to India.
■ This is Erdogan’s first foreign visit after winning a controversial referendum on 16 April that further consolidated his executive powers.