Ramification | Turkey’s growing interest in Indian Ocean Region should alarm Delhi

While Turkey is not a part of India’s immediate neighbourhood, it has strategically expanded its influence in the past two decades. Since Recep Tayyip Erdogan, President of the Republic of Turkey, came to power, he has pursued a neo-Ottoman foreign policy. Turkey’s engagement in South Asia is not just linear but a combination of strategic, military, economic and ideological engagements.

Most recently, Turkey’s support for Pakistan became a part of public discourse in India during Operation Sindoor. This was followed by the emergence of maps at Dhaka University of a ‘Greater Bangladesh’ that encompassed West Bengal and the northeast region of India. Sultanate-e-Bangladesh, an NGO backed by Turkey, took responsibility for the maps. Their support for the Rohingyas has also been a matter of concern.

Furthermore, Turkey has expanded in other countries in India’s neighbourhood, such as Nepal, Myanmar and the Maldives, though the imprint in these countries is much smaller compared to Pakistan or Bangladesh. However, their strategic importance cannot be overlooked. It is these engagements that, at the outset, seem like a strengthening of diplomatic relations that have become a matter of concern for observers.

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Many argue that Turkey, in a concerted effort, is trying to reshape regional alliances and increase ideological influence in the Islamic world. Today, India’s neighbourhood has serious internal turmoil; whether it is Pakistan, Bangladesh or Myanmar, the fault lines can be manipulated. Therefore, it is incumbent on India as an emerging global power to ensure regional stability and ensure that Turkey’s growing influence in its neighbourhood does not amount to actions of destabilisation and radicalisation.

One of the deepest connections that Turkey has in India’s neighbourhood is with Pakistan. During the four-day military conflict between India and Pakistan in May 2025, Pakistan reportedly used 300–400 Turkish-supplied drones to target Indian military and civilian areas. Turkey has been a major arms supplier to Pakistan, including involvement in naval shipbuilding and aircraft upgrades.

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In January 2025, it was reported that Turkey and Pakistan plan to establish a joint factory to produce the fifth-generation KAAN fighter jet, which would replace Pakistan’s ageing F-16 fleet. The two nations regularly hold joint military and counter-terrorism exercises, such as the “Ataturk/Jinnah” exercise. Diplomatically, Turkey, under President Erdoğan, has consistently supported Pakistan’s position on the Kashmir issue in various international forums, including the UN General Assembly.

In February 2025, India lodged a strong protest after President Erdoğan called for a UN-backed resolution on Kashmir during a visit to Pakistan. Following India’s precision strikes on terror infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir in May 2025, Turkey condemned India’s “unprovoked violation of Pakistan’s sovereignty” and expressed solidarity with Pakistan. Turkey has opposed blacklisting Pakistan at international forums, including the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), despite Western pressure.

In Myanmar, Turkey has been a vocal critic of the treatment of the Rohingya Muslim community in Myanmar and has consistently called for an end to the violence and atrocities in Rakhine State. As a self-proclaimed champion of Muslim rights globally, Turkey has used its state-run aid agency, the Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TIKA), to provide significant assistance to Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh and, when permitted, in Myanmar. Through President Erdoğan, Turkey has elevated the Rohingya issue on the international stage, urging other Muslim-majority nations and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) to take action.

Under the Yunus-led interim government, Turkey and Bangladesh are accelerating cooperation in the defence industry, which is causing strategic concerns for India. In July 2025, Bangladesh announced plans to build two defence industrial complexes in Chittagong and Narayanganj with Turkey’s support. Bangladesh is expanding its purchase of military equipment from Turkey, including Bayraktar drones, howitzers, and armoured vehicles. Some analysts interpret Turkey’s expanding strategic presence in Bangladesh as a move to increase its influence in India’s neighbourhood, adding a new layer to South Asia’s complex security dynamics.

In Nepal The Turkish NGO IHH (Foundation for Human Rights and Freedoms and Humanitarian Relief) has extended its activities in Nepal’s border regions. By its alliances with indigenous groups such as Islami Sangh Nepal (ISN)—a suspect for jihadist links—it is reported that IHH has sponsored the building of mosques, madrasas, orphanages, and Islamic centres aimed at minority Muslim populations. IHH Humanitarian Relief Foundation, or IHH, is a conservative Turkish NGO, active in more than 120 countries.

Further, intelligence sources point out that the number of mosques in Nepali provinces sharing a border with India increased from 760 in 2018 to 1,000 in 2021, and madrasas increased from 508 to 645 during the same timeframe. These institutions are not just religious establishments but have been accused of espousing anti-India feelings, especially in border areas.

Turkey in the Maldives too has stepped up its use of defence exports and military aid as tools of foreign policy, pairing arms deals with donations in order to deepen ties. The latest example is the Maldives, which has both received a former Turkish Navy vessel as a gift and begun operating Turkish-made armed drones.

Media reports, quoting Turkish defence ministry sources, have claimed that the Dogan-class fast-attack missile boat, TCG Volkan (P-343), has been refurbished and will be handed over to the Maldives National Defence Force (MNDF) before June. Training for Maldivian personnel has already begun in Turkey, and there will be additional training when it arrives in Maldivian waters to be handed over.

In January 2024, the Maldives signed a $37 million deal with Turkey to acquire military drones to patrol its Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ). The purchase followed the expulsion of Indian military personnel who had previously operated surveillance aircraft in the Maldives.

There are robust relations in Indonesia and Malaysia too amongst smaller littoral states. But observers should primarily question the strategic need for not just the Maldives, a small island nation, to acquire such military hardware in addition to Turkey’s interest in countries geographically distant from it. Maybe, the answer lies in Erdogan’s words, “We neither turn our backs on the East for the West nor neglect the West for the East. With this understanding, we have taken historic steps to expand Turkey’s sphere of influence.”

This should be a wake-up call for New Delhi. If India wants to be a global leader, it must first focus on ensuring stability in its own region. That means not only managing threats to regional peace but also preventing them from gaining ground in the first place. For India, Turkey’s neo-Caliphate ambitions are alarming, especially in the Indian neighbourhood.

Rami Niranjan Desai is an anthropologist and a scholar of the northeast region of India. She is a columnist and author and presently a Distinguished Fellow at the India Foundation, New Delhi. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely those of the author. They do not necessarily reflect the views of Firstpost.