ABSTRACT
Having assumed power in 2002, the Justice and Development Party (JDP) led by Recep Tayyip Erdoğan initiated an expansion of Turkey’s South Asia policy, which had traditionally been fixated on Ankara’s shared Islamic solidarity with Pakistan. Under stress from a new set of drivers such as India’s rising economic and political profile, Turkey has started exploring the possibilities of cooperation with New Delhi. Moreover, South Asia’s evolving security environment augments Turkey’s strategic interest in the region. It is becoming imperative for Turkey to expand ties with emerging powers like India and look beyond the dynamics of its partnership with the West. On the other side, following the rise of radical Islamist groups and instability in the Middle East, India also hopes for cooperation with Turkey, which has significant stakes in the regional power dynamics. This chapter examines the changing contours of Turkey’s engagement with India. It underlines the factors that are making this shift imperative in Turkey’s foreign policy and argues that the changing geopolitical context in the Middle East and South Asia will require a new approach from both Ankara and New Delhi towards each other.
