Tourism, trade, entertainment... : Indians boycott Türkiye, Azerbaijan amid India-Pakistan tensions

A war by any other name? That seems to be the objective, for this battle is being fought not on borders or in the air, but on the very impactful frontiers of business and economy. By now, the new target of Indians’ ire—Türkiye and Azerbaijan—or at least their businesses, would have started feeling the pinch.

“Why should we Indians support and spend our money on countries that don’t treat us nicely?” Jyoti Mayal, former chief of the Travel Agents Association of India, told this correspondent, detailing horror stories of Indian tourists who were travelling in Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan, whilst the conflict between India and Pakistan was going on last week.

That’s one side of the picture. Beyond ill-treatment, both the nations in question had not only thrown in their lot with Islamabad quite clearly, but they were also supporting them actively, in words and deeds. Türkiye, in fact, is one of the biggest suppliers of arms to Pakistan after China, with Istanbul-supplied drones infamously seen in action on India’s Western frontier.

However, Indians, if not India, have struck back. At least half of the advance travel bookings made to both countries have been cancelled over the past six days, while the government itself has clamped down on Turkish broadcaster TRT from Indian social media, for misinformation.

E-commerce platforms in the country are either taking down, or lowering the visibility, of Turkish brands on their shopping sites, while Turkish soaps are dimming from Indian OTT platforms. Apple growers have also been appealing to the government to stop imports from Türkiye—its highest at some 160,000 tonnes last year.

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The Indian trade boycott, reminiscent of a similar outburst a year ago against Maldives, is not just a popular movement, but is being actively encouraged by business entities. Travel site ixigo was one of the first to declare that it would be suspending all travel bookings to Türkiye, Azerbaijan and China. 

This was quickly followed by many other travel entities, including Cox & Kings. EaseMyTrip.com not only advised against all non-essential trips to Türkiye and Azerbaijan, but also took out full front page ads in major newspapers on Wednesday, declaring: ‘Nation first, business later’.

MakeMyTrip also announced on Wednesday evening that it would be suspending all promotions and offers, in order to discourage tourism to these two countries. 

A spokesperson from MakeMyTrip confirmed Indians' "strong sentiments" against the two nations, with "bookings for Azerbaijan and Turkey decreasing by 60%, while cancellations have surged by 250% during the same period". 

“We Indians made Baku into a tourism hotspot, and this is how they are treating us?” exclaimed Mayal, detailing the horrid time Indian tourists have been facing in Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan, which had flowered as a hotspot destination for Indian tourists, particularly over the past few years.

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According to her, at least one group of tourists were met with unkind behaviour and questions over whether they were from India or Pakistan. They were then singled out for bad treatment everywhere they went in the Central Asian republic, which had thrown in its lot with Islamabad very clearly.

“Türkiye has benefitted from Indians travelling via Istanbul and turning it into a major transit hub. Why should we help their business? I think the nation has to come first.”

Industrialist and RPG chairman Harsh Goenka also wrote in an X post how Türkiye and Azerbaijan earned ₹4,000 crores from Indians through tourism.

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