India-Pakistan battle lines drawn, Turkey supports THIS country, Recep Tayyip Erdogan says...

The battle lines for the possible India-Pakistan War are drawn, and some countries are coming out in the open to choose a side. It became apparent that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had called Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to express his solidarity. Erdogan dialed immediately after Indian armed forces bombed nine terror camps scattered in the Punjab province and Pakistan occupied Kashmir. The Turkish President told the Pakistani Prime Minister that Ankara supported Pakistan’s "calm and restrained policies" in the crisis. He also endorsed Islamabad’s call for an investigation into the Pahalgam attack and called it "appropriate".

Shehbaz Sharif thanks Turkish President

Responding to this, Shebaz Sharif said that Pakistan was grateful for Turkish efforts to promote de-escalation. He also thanked Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan for Turkey's solidarity and support with Pakistan "at this critical time". Taking to X, he wrote in a post on the social media platform, 'Appreciate the prayers of our Turkish brethren for the martyrs of yesterday’s heinous missile strikes carried out by India." 

(A terrorist camp in Pakistan's Bahawalpur was flattened in Indian attack.)

Earlier, Turkey signed a $75 million deal to upgrade 41 of Pakistan's F-16 fighter jets. It also supplied advanced targeting pods for Pakistan’s JF-17 jets and an electronic warfare training range. Turkish drone manufacturer Baykar signed a deal with Pakistan’s National Aerospace Science and Technology Park in 2023 to jointly develop UAVs. Earlier in 2022, it supplied the battle-tested Bayraktar TB-2 drones to Pakistan. Turkey is most likely to back Pakistan and supply more military hardware. 

China calls Indian action 'regrettable'

On the other hand, China seems to be ambivalent on the issue, though its leaning towards Pakistan is clear. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian later said, "China finds India's military operation early this morning regrettable." Earlier, Beijing supported Pakistan's demand for an independent investigation into the Pahalgam attack. It also announced to help Pakistan defend its sovereignty and territorial integrity after the terrorist attack. 

However, the Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman did not talk about these issues on Wednesday. Opposing terrorism, he said, "India and Pakistan are neighbours who cannot be moved away, and both are also China’s neighbours. China opposes all forms of terrorism."