Turkey vows to boost bilateral relations with India

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has vowed to further improve bilateral relations with India ahead of his official visit to the country on April 30.

Both in his remarks to the Indian channel WION and a media briefing in Istanbul on April 30, Erdoğan vowed to boost relations with India. 

"In my forthcoming visit, I believe our mutual deliberations will be enriched and they will be much more deepened. The trade volume between India and Turkey appears to be around $6 billion. But it is not in favor of Turkey. But I believe in the forthcoming months, on the basis of our win-win scenario, we can strike a much more favorable balance in our trade volume between our nations," he said. 

"We can take a greater step forward in terms of bilateral relations," he added.      

Erdoğan also raised concerns on the Kashmir question between India and Pakistan. "The relations between two nations are improving on a daily basis which makes me very happy.  But this Kashmir question saddened us deeply. Because, I think, this is a question that upsets both countries. I believe sorting out the question, which has not been settled for up to 70 years, will provide a relief for both countries," he said.       

Erdoğan's two-day visit will be the first-ever official trip at the presidential level from Turkey to India in seven years.  
    
Erdoğan will participate in "Turkey-India Business Forum" on the first day of his stay on April 30. He is also expected to meet his counterpart Pranab Mukherjee, Deputy President Hamid Ansari and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.      

Talks are expected to cover the fight against terrorism, efforts to boost bilateral ties in economy and trade, the prevention of the Fetullahist Terrorist...