ISLAMABAD: Delegation-level talks between Pakistan and Turkiye began on Sunday evening in Istanbul, led by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and President Tayyip Erdogan, the Pakistani premier’s office said.

Sharif reached Istanbul on Sunday as the first stop in a five-day regional diplomacy tour that will also see him visit Iran, Azerbaijan and Tajikistan. Ankara supported Islamabad in a military standoff with India earlier this month when the two nuclear-armed neighbors traded missile, drone and artillery strikes for days, killing around 70 people on both sides. A ceasefire was reached on May 10. 

The conflict, the worst between the neighbors in decades, was triggered by a militant attack on tourists in Indian-administered Kashmir on April 22 that New Delhi blamed on Pakistan. Islamabad denies involvement. 

“During the meeting, bilateral relations, regional and international issues, including the fight against terrorism, will be discussed,” Erdogan’s head of communications, Fahrettin Altun, said on X about the Turkish president’s meeting with Sharif. 

Erdogan received Sharif at the presidential palace ahead of the talks and will later also host a dinner for the visiting premier. 

The PM’s office in Islamabad said Sharif would hold wide-ranging discussions with the leaders of Turkiye, Iran, Azerbaijan and Tajikistan during the regional tour on “an entire range of issues covering bilateral relations and matters of regional and international importance.”

“He will thank friendly countries for the support they have given to Pakistan during the recent crisis with India,” the PMO statement added. 

Erdogan spoke by phone with Sharif on May 7 to convey his solidarity after India first hit Pakistan and Azad Kashmir with missiles. Leaders from the two nations had several contacts subsequently and Turkiye publicly took Islamabad’s side. It is widely believed that Turkiye played an important role, besides the US, UAE and Saudi Arabia, in convincing India and Pakistan to back off and agree to a ceasefire. The two nations have historically strong ties. 

Bitter rivals India and Pakistan have fought three wars, including two over the disputed region of Kashmir, since gaining independence from British rule in 1947. Both claim the Himalayan territory in its entirety but rule it in part. They both acquired nuclear weapons in 1998.