Turkey has ramped up its defence diplomacy in South Asia, with its foreign and defence ministers visiting Pakistan and its top defence official holding talks in Bangladesh.
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In a week marked by diplomatic choreography across South Asia, Turkey has intensified its strategic outreach with high-profile visits to both Pakistan and Bangladesh, signalling Ankara’s deepening interest in the region’s defence and geopolitical landscape.
Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan and Defence Minister Yasir Guler landed in Islamabad on Wednesday for talks with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, with a focus on bilateral relations, regional dynamics, and particularly, defence industry collaboration. The visit, described by Pakistan’s state media as emblematic of “brotherly ties rooted in shared history, culture and trust,” underscores growing convergence between the two nations on security and strategic matters.
According to officials, the ministers are expected to explore defence industrial cooperation, an area Turkey has prioritised in recent years through increased military exports and joint production deals. The visit follows Ankara’s overt backing of Pakistan during military tensions with India in May, a move that drew ire from New Delhi but reinforced Turkey’s positioning as a steadfast partner for Islamabad.
Meanwhile, across the subcontinent, Turkey’s top defence industry official, Haluk Gorgun, held high-level meetings in Dhaka just a day prior. Gorgun met Bangladesh’s Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus and Chief of Army Staff General Waqar-us-Zaman, as both sides discussed expanding defence collaboration and enhancing technological cooperation. The visit was billed as a reciprocal engagement following earlier trips by senior Bangladeshi military officials to Turkey.
The discussions centred on opportunities for defence technology transfers and domestic production of modern military equipment in Bangladesh, as part of the country’s “Forces Goal 2030” vision for self-reliance in defence. With Turkey’s growing reputation in unmanned aerial vehicles, missile systems and artillery, Dhaka appears keen to tap into Ankara’s capabilities to diversify away from its traditional defence supplier, China.
Bangladesh emerged as Turkey’s largest arms customer in 2022, reflecting a notable shift in Dhaka’s defence procurement strategy. The closer ties also mirror Turkey’s broader ambition to strengthen its footprint in South Asia, a region long shaped by India’s security influence.
While neither Islamabad nor Dhaka may present an immediate security challenge to New Delhi, the growing sophistication of their defence ties with Turkey could recalibrate regional strategic dynamics. Turkey’s simultaneous engagement with both countries raises questions about its evolving role in South Asia and whether its expanding military diplomacy might eventually alter power equations in a region where India has long enjoyed primacy.
With Pakistan and Bangladesh now both deepening defence ties with Ankara, Turkey’s calibrated outreach suggests more than symbolic diplomacy. It may well mark the beginning of a more assertive Turkish pivot into South Asia’s strategic architecture.