India, Turkey agree to boost trade, investment ties

India and Turkey on Wednesday vowed to strengthen economic relations with an aim of reaching USD 10 billion bilateral trade by 2020.

Turkey's Deputy Foreign Minister Sedat Onal, who is on a three-day visit to India since May 7, held talks with Gitesh A Sarma, Secretary (West) under the institutional mechanism of foreign office consultations.

"Deputy Foreign Minister Onal and Secretary (West) held cordial discussions on various aspects of bilateral ties including examining opportunities for enhancing trade and investment relations. Currently, the bilateral trade stands at around USD 8.6 billion with a target to reach USD 10 billion by 2020," the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said in a statement.

Other aspects such as enhanced cultural interaction, tourism, people-to-people contacts were also discussed, it added.

India and Turkey reviewed the current situation in their respective regions and also exchanged views on several multilateral issues.

"The visit of Deputy Foreign Minister Onal is part of the regular exchange between the two countries," the statement said.

Onal had earlier visited India as part of the delegation of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in May 2017.

"India and Turkey enjoy close, friendly and deep-rooted ties dating back to several centuries and share civilizational links. The recent political exchanges have imparted fresh momentum to our bilateral ties and opened several new avenues for cooperation," the MEA statement said.