BRIDGE TO ANATOLIA: AN OVERVIEW OF INDO-TURKISH RELATIONS

With the end of the bipolar international system, regional powers have not merely experienced an extension of their influence within their respective areas, but also scope for enhanced engagement between them. After years of mutual exclusion, India and Turkey, the two ambitious regional middle powers have, for instance, made remarkable headway in their efforts to forge close ties founded on shared values like democracy and secularism. Nowhere has it been more glaring than in the recent spurt in economic interaction, raising Indo-Turkish relationship to a qualitatively new level. In explaining variety of factors that account for the upswing in their bilateral relations in the past decade, this article argues that interests of the two countries in a common extended neighbourhood do not clash but overlap. In addition, the long-standing historical ties and the unprecedented growth in trade and investment underline the possibility of an enduring friendship notwithstanding Turkey’s special relations with India’s hostile neighbour, Pakistan.