Did India unofficially offer Long-Range Land Attack Cruise Missiles to Turkey's archfoe Greece?

The recent India-Pakistan conflict cast a shadow over India's relations with Turkey, which openly backed Islamabad. Turkey's diplomatic stance spilt over to business relations between both countries, with several Indian companies snapping ties with Turkish firms. For the same reason, India's growing closeness with Turkey's archfoe Greece had tongues wagging in Turkey, with multiple media reports raising alarm about India's 'revenge move'.

Now, a Turkish media outlet has sounded the alarm about India "unofficially offering" its Long Range Land Attack Cruise Missile (LR-LACM) to Greece. The report that appeared in the Turkish news website TR Haber quotes numerous Greek media outlets, including defence platform GeoStratigika, that carried unverified reports about India offering the missile with an over 1000 km range.

The social media handle of the Indian defence platform IADN had reported the same.

According to the Greek media reports, the Chief of the Air Staff of the Indian Air Force, Wing Commander AP Singh, had arrived in Athens. He met with his Greek counterpart, and both shared time in the Rafale simulator, talking with the Greek crew and personnel. Though it is unclear whether any discussion regarding the LR-LACM happened then, India had earlier displayed the missile at the DEFEA-25 defence exhibition held in Athens.

The DRDO conducted the maiden flight test of the LR-LACM last year. With a range of over 1000 km, the missile is capable of carrying both conventional and unconventional warheads. Its navigation system ensures pinpoint accuracy and helps perform difficult manoeuvres.  

This comes amid reports in Turkish media that the Greek Air Force Command made "backdoor efforts" to gain access to the tactics and operational details used during Operation Sindoor. The Turkish media reports claim this was to "develop training scenarios and familiarise Greek pilots with real-world combat conditions in provocations against the Turkish Air Force".

Turkish media also speculated that during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Greece and Cyprus, the countries evaluated their partnership as an "advantage against Turkey". The report added that the partnership could also mean that Indian warships will be encouraged to dock at Cyprus ports more regularly. 

Middle East