Operation Sindoor: After tourism, India-Turkey trade ties may take a hit

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan

Turkish apples may become the first casualty of fast-deteriorating ties between India and Turkey after it supported Pakistan, supplying weapons including drones, in the last’s ferocious military conflict.

Even before the conflict, the bilateral trade between India and Turkey saw a significant drop in FY25.

India’s exports to Turkey stood at $5.21 billion between April and February of FY25, a nearly 15 percent drop on year. Ankara shipped goods worth $2.84 billion, a fall of 17.25 percent from FY24.

New Delhi’s trade surplus with Turkey was at $2.37 billion in the April-February period. Ankara accounts for just 1.5 percent of India's exports.

With a share of over 50 percent, New Delhi’s top export to Ankara is engineering goods, followed by organic and inorganic chemicals, electronic goods, drugs and pharmaceuticals and petroleum products.

Marble, apples, gold, vegetables, cement, lime and mineral oil are some of the key goods that India imports from Turkey.

According to a media report, apple growers from India are planning to approach agriculture minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan and his commerce counterpart Piyush Goyal with a request to stop imports of apples from Turkey, given its support for Pakistan during the recent border conflict.

India annually imports around 300,000–500,000 tonnes of apples from nearly 40 countries, including  Turkey.

In 2023–24, India imported around 160,000 tonnes of apples from Turkey, the highest-ever quantity, the Business Standard reported.

The Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT), the apex body representing traders across the country too called upon Indian traders to boycott trade with Turkey.

The final decision regarding suspension of trade with Turkey will be taken at a national conference of leading trade leaders from across the country, to be organised by CAIT in New Delhi on May 16.

"Reducing market access for Turkish products sends a clear message — that India does not support or reward countries that side with its adversaries. Economic pressure is a non-violent but powerful tool," CAIT Secretary General and Member of Parliament from Chandni Chowk, Praveen Khandelwal said.

India and Turkey also have a bilateral trade agreement since 1973, following which a Joint Commission on Economic and Technical Cooperation (JCETC) was set up in 1983.

JCETC meetings are held alternately in India and Turkey.

Co-chaired by the trade ministers of the two countries, the last (10th) session of JCETC was held in New Delhi in January 2014.

Not just trade ties, but investments between India and Turkey risks coming under strain.

Total FDI from Turkey to India stood at $227.5 million for the April 2000-December 2023 period, while India invested around $200 million between August 2000 and March 2024.

The most notable engagement between the two nations was in 2023 following earthquakes in southern Turkey in February 2023. India launched “Operation Dost” to help the Turkish government with search and rescue efforts and was one of the first countries to reach quake-hit areas.

But Turkey has remained steadfast in its support for Pakistan and has backed its Kashmir claims to.

The biggest blow, however, has been dealt by the recent aerial warfare following New Delhi’s Operation Sindoor on May 7. Ankara not only came out in support of Islamabad, Turkish drones were used by Pakistan to intrude India’s air space and attempt strikes at military and civilian sites between May 8 and May 9.

This has led to growing calls for boycotting Turkey as a tourist destination, which now risks spilling into other avenues such as trade and investment.