Terrorism rules India-Turkey talks

Ansari had a series of meetings with Turkish President Abdullah Gul, Prime Minister Racep Tayyip Erdogan and Speaker of the Turkish Grand National Assembly Cemil Cicek and the issue of terrorism was a focal point in all these deliberations.

"Terrorism and the damage it has caused to both countries came up repeatedly in many of these discussions. Turkey recognises India has suffered and requires more international cooperation to tackle it," Special Secretary (Public Diplomacy) MEA Pinak Ranjan Chakravarty told reporters in a late night briefing here after the meetings concluded.

Chakravarty at the same time made it clear that Pakistan was not mentioned during the talks except in reference to the discussions about the upcoming Istanbul conference on Afghanistan next month for which the External Affairs Minister of both India and Pakistan would be coming there. He said that India expressed its "deep grief and condolences" for those killed in the recent terrorist attacks in Istanbul and other parts of the Turkey.

There is a kind of mutual concern, we shared and the mutual condolences we expressed," he said, noting that there is already a joint mechanism between the two countries to share information and devolve strategies to address the issue of terrorism. The two sides also discussed in detail the Afghanistan imbroglio and India found Turkey`s response on the issue "quite forthcoming". .