Modi-Erdogan meet today; NSG bid, terrorism key issues

Indian President Pranab Mukherjee (L) watches as Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi (R) shakes hands with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan during a ceremonial reception at Presidential palace in New Delhi on May 1, 2017. Erdogan is on a two days state visit to India. / AFP PHOTO / Prakash SINGH

NEW DELHI: Recep Tayyip Erdogan was accorded a ceremonial welcome on Monday at the Rashtrapati Bhavan. Turkish President, who arrived on Sunday, is on a two-day visit to India and will hold wide-ranging talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi today. Focus of talks will be key bilateral and regional issues, including India's NSG membership bid. The two leaders are also likely to discuss ways to strengthen cooperation in counter-terrorism and trade. It's his first foreign visit after winning the April 16 referendum, which granted him more executive powers as President of Turkey. Ahead of his trip, Erdogan suggested a multilateral dialogue to resolve Kashmir issue to ensure peace in the region. "We should not allow more casualties to occur and by strengthening multilateral dialogue, we can be involved, and through multilateral dialogue I think we have to seek out ways to settle this question once and for all, which will benefit both countries," he said in the interview to WION TV channel. "There is no better option than keeping dialogue channels open and contributing to global peace. I want this mentality to prevail among the leaders," he said. Terrorism will also feature in the Modi-Erdogan talks. Turkey has been hit hard by terrorism in recent years. It has become a relatively new target with terrorist group ISIS killing hundreds of people in number of attacks. Last year, Russia’s ambassador to Turkey was assassinated at an Ankara art exhibit on Monday evening by a gunman. In the same year, a series of deadly explosions tore through crowds at Istanbul’s Atatürk international airport, leaving 45 people dead. In July, a faction within Turkey's armed forces used tanks and helicopters in its attempt to bring down Erdogan. However, the coup attempt was foiled as people flooded onto the streets in support of the democratically elected leader. Erdogan has dominated Turkey's political landscape since 2002. He visited India in 2008, when he was Turkey's Prime Minister. He spent 11 years as PM before becoming the country's first directly-elected president in August 2014.