India appreciates Türkiye's efforts for peace in Ukraine war: Turkish envoy

By Behlul Cetinkaya

ANKARA (AA) - India appreciates Türkiye's peace efforts between Russia and Ukraine, as well as its initiative on the grain corridor agreement, the Turkish ambassador to New Delhi said on Friday.

Firat Sunel told Anadolu Agency that various issues, including Afghanistan and Ukraine, were high on the both countries' agendas.

Like Türkiye, India wants the war in Ukraine to come to an end as soon as possible through diplomacy and dialogue, Sunel said.

"In this context, Türkiye's efforts to establish a cease-fire and open a grain corridor, which is important for global food security, has been appreciated in India, as well as all over the world," he added.

Both countries have the potential to develop cooperation on issues that threaten the entire world, such as climate change, counter-terrorism, and food security, the envoy said.

Sunel noted that ties between the peoples of the two countries date back a long time, adding the Turkish War of Independence also inspired the independence movement of India.

Touching on tourism, he said that a record 230,000 Indian tourists visited Türkiye in 2019 before the coronavirus pandemic.

Like the rest of the world, the pandemic brought travel between the two countries to a screeching halt, he added.

Now, though, it is picking up again, particularly after direct flights resumed in March, he added.

"We expect to host approximately 250,00 Indian visitors in our country by the end of this year," he said.

Noting that tourism is an important way to boost mutual interaction, Sunel emphasized the importance of increasing the number of flights and flight destinations between countries.

He further stated that despite a fall in mutual trade in 2020 due to the pandemic, the two countries saw a record of $ 9.2 billion last year.

"We see that the increase in our trade with India continues in 2022. We think that if the current trend continues, the bilateral trade volume will easily exceed $10 billion before the end of the year."

"Increasing the contacts between our peoples, the heirs to two ancient civilizations, and developing cultural ties are among the issues we prioritize." Sunel said, pointing out that Indian productions on Turkish television and Turkish productions on Indian television showed the closeness of the two countries' cultures.

He stressed that there is great potential between the two nations in many fields, from archeology, faith tourism, health, education, and gastronomy tourism.

*Writing by Seda Sevencan in Istanbul