India kicks out Türkiye from Navy’s shipping project

Amidst Türkiye’s close dealings with Pakistan on the Kashmir issue, New Delhi canceled the contract with a Turkish firm involved in a ship-building project in India even as it hosted the Chief of the Hellenic National Defence General Staff at a fighter base.

The ties between India and Türkiye have hit an all-time low because of Türkiye’s inability to decouple itself from Pakistan on the issue of Kashmir. Since the abrogation of Article 370 in 2019 in Jammu and Kashmir, Türkiye has not let go of any opportunity to raise the issue on an international forum, according to The Eurasian Times. 

In the latest blow to Türkiye, India’s Hindustan Shipyard Limited (HSL) terminated all agreements with Turkish firms to construct the fleet of five support ships for the Indian Navy. HSL will execute the construction on its own.

The project, estimated to cost between $1.5 billion and $2 billion, initially envisaged the transfer of technology from Anadolu Shipyard, part of the Turkish TAIS consortium, with which HSL signed an agreement for technical collaboration in 2020.

The steel cutting for the first five fleet support ships was held at the HSL in Visakhapatnam on April 10 in the presence of Defence Secretary Giridhar Aramane and other senior officials from the Indian Navy. The Indian Navy signed a contract with the HSL for the acquisition of five fleet support ships in August 2023. The ships are scheduled to be delivered to the Navy in 2027.

The 230-metre-long FSVs will have a displacement of 45,000 tonnes. They carry fuel and other supplies for warships.