Turkish delight, but terror a dark shadow

Prime Minister Narendra Modi firmly and categorically conveyed to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan that Kashmir was an internal matter. The message, conveyed at Hyderabad House, during a bilateral meeting between the two leaders, was in response to the Turkish President's much publicised and controversial comments on Kashmir before his two-day state visit to India. Not only did Erdogan suggest a "multi-lateral dialogue" on Kashmir, he even offered to mediate to settle all of India's "differences" with Pakistan.              

Sources present at the meeting said that the Prime Minister also told the Turkish president that as far as India was concerned, Kashmir was essentially an issue of terrorism. Pakistan needed to turn off the terror tap before any meaningful dialogue could go forward. Sources also added that the PM stressed that India was ready to resolve all bilateral issues with Pakistan, including Kashmir, in the spirit of the Simla Agreement and Lahore Declaration.

The differences in outlook of the two leaders showed through. While both leaders agreed to strengthen cooperation in combating terrorism, in the joint statement issued at the end of the meeting, there were marked differences in the statements that they read before the media, immediately after bilateral talks.