How Turkey forgot India’s ‘Operation Dost’ initiative, focused on Pakistan amid Delhi-Islamabad tensions

On 6 February 2023, a series of earthquakes killed over 55,000 people in Türkiye

India sent a field hospital, medicines, rescue teams to earthquake-hit Turkey and Syria under "Operation Dost" in 2023 under “Operation Dost”.  However, India had a rude shock during Operation Sindoor.

A preliminary probe into the debris after Pakistan’s attempt to breach the northern and western fronts on Thursday night suggested that Turkish drones were used by Islamabad.

During a special briefing on Operation Sindoor, the Centre said around 300 to 400 drones were used to attempt infiltration at 36 locations. “Indian forces shot down Pakistani drones reportedly manufactured in Turkiye," Colonel Sofiya Qureshi said.

The preliminary probe  reports suggest they are Asisguard’s Songar drone from Turkey. The first wave of Pakistan's  drone and missile attacks began late on May 7 night.

This was hours after Operation Sindoor  a precision strike was launched to avenge the Pahalgam attack. It destroyed nine terror camps in Pakistan and Pakistan -occupied Kashmir and did not target any rival military installation.

 What is Songar?

The Songar drones are made by Turkish firm Asisguard. The  armed drone can be used to detect and destroy the target. According to the Turkish manufacturer, Songar drones can come with an integrated automatic machine gun and grenade launcher.

The company also says that Songar drones have a system capable of real-time image transmission. The drones can perform critical tasks such as detecting the target area, neutralising the threat, post-operation damage detection and real-time image transmission, according to the company.

The drones can be used in border and cross-border security operations, the company said on its official website.

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It is the first domestic armed drone system to be operated by the Turkish Armed Forces (TAF).

What is Operation Dost?

Following the massive earthquake that struck Türkiye and Syria on 6 February 2023, Prime Minister  Narendra Modi had directed that all possible assistance be extended to the affected people.

Operation Dost was launched to provide necessary support in terms of search and rescue (SAR) efforts as well as medical assistance. This swift response led to the first C-17 IAF aircraft with a specialized SAR team leaving for Türkiye within hours of a request of assistance being received.

India sent more than 250 personnel, specialised equipment and other relief material amounting to more than 135 tons to Türkiye on 5 C-17 IAF aircrafts.

Pakistan and Turkey’s strong ties

Turkey established diplomatic relations soon after the independence of Pakistan in 1947. Their bilateral relations became increasingly close owing to cultural, religious and geopolitical links between the two countries.

During the Cold War, Turkey and Pakistan were together in groupings such as the Central Treaty Organization (CENTO) and the Regional Cooperation Development (RCD). The two countries have almost always supported each other during times of crisis.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan called Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to convey his solidarity after India launched Operation Sindoor.

Erdogan had told Sharif that Turkey supported what he called Pakistan’s “calm and restrained policies” in the crisis. He also backed Pakistan’s call for an investigation into the Pahalgam terror attack.

Pakistan’s interest in Turkey

In 2018, Pakistan signed a $1.5 billion agreement with Turkish state-owned defence firm ASFAT to acquire four MILGEM-class stealth corvettes as part of Turkey’s flagship naval programme. According to reports, recent additions to Pakistan’s military inventory include Turkish Bayraktar TB2 armed UAVs and Kemankes cruise missiles. As per the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), Pakistan received three TB2 drones in 2022.

Established as the Military Consultative Group in 1988, Ankara and Islamabad have a time-tested framework for defence cooperation.

Pakistani legislators last week  recognised Turkey, China, and Azerbaijan as the three principal states that had expressed full support for Islamabad.

What does it mean for India?

Turkey’s support to Pakistan on the Kashmir question is not new. “Don’t make your friendships at India’s expense,” then External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid had said regarding Turkey in a 2013 interview.

Moreover, both Pakistan and Turkey are misaligned with India due to strategic shifts in global geopolitics.

Islamabad has been impacted with the US shifting from its Afghanistan-focused partnership with Pakistan to a stronger Indo-Pacific-focused partnership with India.

Pakistan did not feature even once in the United States’ official 2022 Indo-Pacific Strategy. India featured at least five times.

Also, the planned India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor bypasses Turkey, which has historically seen itself as the bridge between Asia and Europe. The IMEC has also drawn explicit criticism from Erdogan.