Narendra Modi cancels Turkey trip after Recep Tayyip Erdogan's UNGA speech criticising abrogation of Article 370 in J&K

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has cancelled a two-day official visit to Turkey after Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s speech at the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) last month in which he criticised the Centre’s decision to abrogate Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir. [caption id=“attachment_3417766” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File photo of Narendra Modi with Recep Tayyip Erdogan. PTI[/caption] In addition to bringing up the Kashmir issue at the global platform, Erdogan also supported Pakistan at the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) meeting. Erdogan indicated agreement with Pakistan’s continued condemnation of the BJP-led government’s decision to strip the state of its special status in August, and said that “it is imperative to solve the problem through dialogue on the basis of justice, equity, and not through collision.” In response, Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Ravish Kumar said, “We call upon the Turkey government to get a proper understanding of the situation on the ground before they make any further statements on this issue. It is a matter which is completely internal to India.” India’s move to cancel Modi’s visit, which would have been his first stand-alone trip to Turkey, is being seen as a “cold shoulder” in response to Turkey’s criticism. However, News18 quoted a source from the Ministry of External Affairs as saying that since the visit was “never finalised, so there is no question of cancellation.” Reportedly, Modi was going to travel to Turkey from Saudi Arabia, where he will attend an investment summit on 27 and 28 October. With inputs from agencies