India’s External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar’s remarks at the UNGA in response to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s reference to Kashmir carry strong diplomatic significance. By invoking support for Cyprus, New Delhi signalled a calibrated counter-strike against Ankara’s rhetoric while underscoring India’s consistent position on respecting sovereignty and internationally recognised frameworks.

Turkish President Erdogan once again raised the Kashmir issue at the UN General Assembly, echoing Pakistan’s long-standing line on the dispute. Ankara has repeatedly used multilateral platforms to criticise India’s policies in Jammu and Kashmir, despite the matter being deemed a strictly bilateral issue between New Delhi and Islamabad under the Shimla Agreement and the Lahore Declaration. This intervention was viewed in India as unwarranted, hostile, and intrusive.

In response, EAM Jaishankar reaffirmed India’s support for a “comprehensive and lasting settlement of the Cyprus Question” in accordance with UN frameworks and UNSC resolutions. The Cyprus issue, ongoing since 1974 after Turkey’s military intervention on the island, remains a sensitive fault line in Euro-Mediterranean geopolitics. By explicitly raising Cyprus, India highlighted Ankara’s double standards: criticising India on Kashmir while occupying northern Cyprus in defiance of UN resolutions.

New Delhi’s statement was not only a rebuttal but also a calculated diplomatic message. It highlighted Turkey’s own unresolved territorial dispute, implicitly challenging Ankara’s moral authority to lecture other states on sovereignty and self-determination. This approach aligned with India’s larger strategy of exposing hypocrisy when states attempt to internationalise Kashmir.

India’s reference to Cyprus also resonated positively within the European Union, particularly with Greece and Cyprus itself, both of which have strongly opposed Turkey’s aggressive posture in the Eastern Mediterranean.

By reinforcing support for Cyprus’s territorial integrity, India positioned itself as a principled actor aligned with international law, strengthening its standing with European partners who increasingly see Turkey as destabilising.

This exchange underscores the emerging contest between India and Turkey in global forums. Ankara has repeatedly aligned with Pakistan on regional issues, from Kashmir to FATF deliberations, while New Delhi has cultivated closer ties with Greece, Cyprus, Egypt, and Israel—all of which have uneasy relations with Turkey.

India’s Cyprus reference thus not only neutralised Erdogan’s Kashmir provocation but also strategically placed New Delhi in alignment with a Mediterranean bloc countering Turkey’s assertiveness.

By linking its rebuttal to Erdogan’s Kashmir remarks with support for Cyprus, India demonstrated diplomatic agility. The move projected strength without inflammatory rhetoric, reinforced India’s consistent respect for UN frameworks, and deftly highlighted Turkey’s contradictions.

In doing so, New Delhi turned Ankara’s attack into an opportunity to strengthen bonds with Europe, expose Turkish hypocrisy, and reaffirm its principled stance on sovereignty and territorial integrity.

IDN (With Agency Inputs)