Turkish naval vessel deal for India under question

A US$2.3 billion deal between India and Turkey to build fleet support vessels has been put in question in India because of Turkey’s links with Pakistan. Turkey's TAIS had emerged as the lowest bidder in June this year, following a global competition for a contract to build five 45,000-tonne fleet support vessels (FSVs). The vessels would be built to Turkish designs at India’s state-owned Hindustan Shipyard Limited (HSL). But Turkish shipyards are a major supplier of warships to the Pakistani navy and concerns have been raised in India on how access to HSL by Turkey could result in security threats. HSL is located close to the Ship Building Centre, where India's nuclear-armed submarines are built and the Eastern Naval Command has its headquarters. Last month, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had used the ceremony to launch new corvettes in Turkey for the Pakistani navy to once again talk about the Kashmir issue. Erdogan said that he would continue to raise the issue at global platforms and attempted to draw parallels between the Kashmir issue and the Palestine conflict. Besides four new corvettes, Turkey has designed a fleet support vessel for Pakistan and has signed a deal to sell 30 attack helicopters that have been developed in collaboration with Italian company Finmeccanica. The Indian FSV project has been running behind schedule since it was given a go-ahead in 2016 after the navy projected a requirement for ships that can carry fuel and other supplies for warships at sea. In a decision that triggered protests by private shipyards, the defence ministry decided to nominate HSL for the project without opting for competitive bidding. The state-owned HSL shipyard commenced its own selection process to identify a foreign technology partner after its initial talks with South Korea's Hyundai Heavy Industries fell through. The competitive tender closed in on three possibilities - the Turkish yard, Russia's United Shipbuilding Corporation and Germany's ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems. While the Turkish yard's win was announced in June this year, no formal contract has been signed with the company so far. The matter is being discussed at the top level in the Indian government, after which formal action will be initiated for the way forward, according to people aware of the matter.