I met Dimitris at the post exchange (PX) of Fort Rucker, Alabama, USA on Day 1 of my combat helicopter Advance Course in April 1997. Dimitris was a Captain from Greek Army Aviation, flying Apache attack helicopter. I flew French origin light helicopter Alouette, renamed Cheetah back home. Both were stocking up on provisions for our one-room apartments for the scheduled six-months-long stay. The carts were piled high, he having picked up crates of wine and beer and me, some native American Jim Beam whiskey, among other things.

At the check-out counter, Dimitris suddenly frowned and tossed out a stylish bush shirt he had carefully selected and tried on. As we left the premises and loaded up our cars, I asked him about his actions at the checkout. He blurted out, "I cannot even touch a Turkish product, forget about wearing one." With my limited global exposure (then already 35-years-old, this was my first foreign trip) and scant understanding of geopolitics, I was left confused. Not wanting to expose my ignorance, I nodded knowingly.

Pakistani mullah-military chief Asim Munir in his April 16 speech, just six days before the Pahalgam attack, reaffirmed Pakistan's stance on Kashmir.

Back in my apartment, I dived deeper into Turkish-Greek relations. Modern Greece was formed after its declaration of independence from the Ottoman Empire in the 1830s. Turkey was proclaimed a republic in 1923 following the defeat of the Ottoman Empire in WW-I. Both NATO allies, they have long standing rivalry over Cyprus apart from control of the eastern Mediterranean and the Aegean seas. Dimitris comes from Greece's second-largest city Thessaloniki, site of Atatürk's birthplace, and understands the sentiments. Like all proud and patriotic Greeks, Dimitris boycotts all things Turkish.

China, Turkey and Azerbaijan have been at the forefront to support Pakistan with material and moral support.

Let's move onto our subcontinent and the Indo-Pak rivalry simmering since October 1947. The brutal massacre of 26 Hindu male tourists on April 22, 2025 after positive physical verification in front of their wives and children has emphatically shattered the oft repeated myth that "terror has no religion". Born out of 'two-nation' theory, India and Pakistan are not two estranged siblings as hordes of our pseudo-secularists and liberal intelligentsia would have us believe. Pakistani mullah-military chief Asim Munir in his April 16 speech, just six days before the Pahalgam attack, reaffirmed Pakistan's stance on Kashmir. He declared Kashmir as a "jugular vein," calling upon people of his country to tell stories to children so that they don't forget they are "different from Hindus". The war of a 'thousand cuts" that the original radical General Zia-ul-Haq converted into a national doctrine after three comprehensive defeats in 1947-48, 1965 and 1971, is a work-in-progress. And so will be Operation Sindoor, India's resolute and retributive response to this undeclared jihadist war being waged by a China-Turkey backed, IMF-funded failed state.

Up to six Turkish C-130 aircraft with armed drones and operators had reportedly landed at Karachi and another military base in Islamabad after the Pahalgam massacre.

While the jihadists await their turn for another suicidal mission, there is an uneasy pause in the kinetics. Meanwhile, other retaliatory measures like cancellation of visas including the SAARC ones given to Pakistani nationals, stoppage of all trade including those surreptitiously conducted through third-countries and holding in abeyance of the Indus Water Treaty (IWT) are being followed up to their logical conclusion. Illegals are being identified across the length and breadth of the country for deportation. And India is reviewing actions and reactions of countries to better fathom who are our friends and who are not. There is an adage that "In international relations, there are no permanent friends or permanent enemies, only permanent interests". The origin of this pragmatism is generally conceded to Lord Palmerston of the now not-so Great Britain. He also said that "Our interests are eternal and perpetual, and those interests it is our duty to follow".

Amid rising calls to boycott Turkey and Azerbaijan, Indian travellers are cancelling trips to these countries to prioritise national interest

In this calculous of real-politics, as much as we work to protect our sovereign interests, we must vigorously pursue actions that undermine the interests of those who have actively and openly aligned with our adversary in this dark episode. China, Turkey and Azerbaijan have been at the forefront to support Pakistan with material and moral support. The IMF actions to release $2.1 billion tranche of loans on May 9 to Pakistan (its 23rd bailout), days after Operation Sindoor was launched, should be an area of concern. As should be the deal signed by World Liberty Financial, a cryptocurrency firm majority-owned by the family of US President Donald Trump with the Pakistan Crypto Council on April 30, 2025, a full week after the horrific attack by Pak sponsored jihadists.

Up to six Turkish C-130 aircraft with armed drones and operators had reportedly landed at Karachi and another military base in Islamabad after the Pahalgam massacre. The Indian armed forces intercepted and neutralised a range of high-tech foreign weapons used by Pakistan, including Chinese-origin PL-15 air-to-air missiles and Turkish Byker YIHA III Kamikaze drones apart from blasting Chinese made HQ-9 air defence systems deployed in their air bases. Pakistan also operates Chinese advance fighter aircraft like J-16 and J-10C fighters and Pakistani JF-17 Block-III jets. Pakistan is also equipped with dozens of American F-16C/D jets complete with 500 AMRAAM air-to-air missiles, 1,450 2,000-pound bombs, 500 JDAM Tail Kits for gravity bombs, and 1,600 Enhanced Paveway laser-guided kits apart from 115 M109A5 155mm Self-propelled howitzers. Financially tottering, how does Pakistan pay for all these?

Indian consumers should rethink on their purchases of Chinese products which resulted a $85 billion trade deficit in 2024

So retribution must follow. Celebi Aviation, a Turkish firm that handles a large part of services at nine major airports in India has filed a legal petition in Delhi High Court after the Indian government revoked its security clearance over concerns regarding national security. The action has wiped out nearly $200 million in shareholder value and gutted a third of the Turkish company's global revenue. Shares of Çelebi Hava Servisi plummeted 20 per cent over two trading sessions on the Istanbul Stock Exchange.

Amid rising calls to boycott Turkey and Azerbaijan, Indian travellers are cancelling trips to these countries to prioritise national interest, with travel platforms reporting over 2,000 cancellations in just a few days, according to a report by Moneycontrol. In 2024, around 2.4 lakh Indians visited Azerbaijan and 3.3 lakh visited Turkey, together contributing over ₹69 billion to their economies, as per Cox & Kings.

It is also time for the Indian consumers to rethink on their purchases of Chinese products which resulted a $85 billion trade deficit in 2024. The boycott should encompass products from all other countries which actively support and collaborate with Pakistan including Saudi Arabia, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, Azerbaijan, Malaysia and Bangladesh. Like my friend Dimitri, we citizens must join hands and fight on.