The Indian authorities have summoned the Turkish envoy to the country in the wake of the Turkey-Pakistan Joint Declaration addressing the situation in the state of Jammu and Kashmir.
"India has made a strong demarche with the Turkish Government on the remarks made by President Erdogan on the Indian Union Territory of Jammu & Kashmir during his recent visit to Islamabad. These remarks reflect neither an understanding of history nor of the conduct of diplomacy. They distort events of the past to advance a narrow-minded view of the present. India made a strong demarche with the Turkish Government", official spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs Raveesh Kumar stated.
The news comes after Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan visited Pakistan and criticised Indian policy in Kashmir, however, without naming India explicitly.
This is not the first time that a remark by the Turkish president has led to tensions between the two countries. Last autumn, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi cancelled his visit to Ankara following Erdogan's speech at the United Nations, in which he mentioned Kashmir.
Tensions escalated last August after India's Parliament revoked the special status of Jammu and Kashmir and divided it into two federally-administered territories. New Delhi also deployed additional troops there to prevent possible attacks by militant groups that oppose Indian rule in the predominantly Muslim-populated region.
Both India and Pakistan claim the region is their territory since they became independent from Great Britain in 1947.
