After India Cancels Shipbuilding Order, Turkey Suspends Defense Exports

India’s relations with Turkey could take a new turn after reports that the Turkish government has imposed a moratorium on exports of arms and defense items to India. This came to light during a recent appearance of a senior government official to the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Turkish Parliament. The decision follows several months after the cancelation of a large shipbuilding contract that the Indian Navy had previously signed with a Turkish shipyard.

According to the minutes of a committee meeting obtained by the Nordic Monitor, defense procurement official Mustafa Murat Seker confirmed the Turkish government’s ban on defense exports to India. Seker explained to lawmakers that the government has not recently approved any sale of defense products in instances where the customer is based in India.

“India is one of the world’s top five arms importers, a massive market, importing close to $100 billion. However, due to our political circumstances and our friendship with Pakistan, our Ministry of Foreign Affairs does not give a positive feedback on exporting any defense related products to India, and consequently, we do not grant any permits to our companies in this regard,” said Seker.

The SSB, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the military have to approve any sale of Turkish defense items abroad. Relations between India and Turkey have been declining in the recent past. Turkish foreign policy supports Pakistan in its dispute with India, specifically over the Kashmir region issue. In retaliation, India has also enhanced its relations with countries having disputes with Turkey including Armenia, Cyprus and Greece.

In April, India ended a lucrative shipbuilding consultancy agreement with Turkey's Anadolu Shipyard, which is part of the TAIS consortium. The $2 billion deal involved the construction of five fleet support ships (FSS) for the Indian Navy at India's Hindustan Shipyard, with technology and engineering support from Anadolu. India instead chose to have the vessels built locally without Turkish participation.

India said that the termination of the contract is part of the current government policy to boost capacity for local shipbuilding, but the underlying cause is believed to be India's previously-voiced discomfort with Turkey's ties to archrival Pakistan.