The Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, on Saturday gave support to India’s bid for a permanent seat in the United Nations Security Council. During the concluding day of the G20 summit, President Erdogan, in his address to the press, said, “We would be proud if a country like India became a permanent member of the UN Security Council.”

He further went on to add, “The world is bigger and larger than five (permanent members). And when we say the world is larger than five, what we mean is that it’s not only about the US, UK, France, China, and Russia. We don’t want to have just these five countries on the Security Council.” President Erdogan reiterated India’s stand that only five permanent UNSC members cannot be considered as the collective voice of the world.

Highlighting the significance of India for Türkiye, President Erdogan mentioned India being Türkiye’s most important trading partner in South Asia and that the two nations have enormous economic potential. “India is our most important trade partner in South Asia, and we have a lot of promise, especially in the economy and other fields,” he stated during a press conference. It is worth mentioning that India enjoys a trade surplus in India-Türkiye bilateral trade.

These statements come after Ankara softened its stand on Kashmir. These moves show the growing importance of India in the global sphere, where Türkiye is expecting Indian support to re-broker the Black Sea Grain Deal with Russia, as it is also dependent on Ukrainian grains. India also played a crucial role in the rescue operations after the devastating earthquakes in February 2023.

-Anushka Upadhyay