‘Indian govt didn’t want Erdogan to visit Delhi’s Jamia Masjid, meet Shahi Imam’
New Delhi: The Turkish President, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, wanted to visit Jamia Masjid on his tour of Delhi for the G20 summit, however, Indian government didn’t want him to visit as it would entail a meeting with Shahi Imam and thus media coverage, reports said.
Reports said Jamia Masjid fountains may have been lit up for G20 and landmarks illuminated, but the Indian government did not want the heads of government to visit this part of old Delhi as it would entail a meeting with the masjid’s Shahi Imam.
G20 leaders, on the other hand, perhaps wanted to please their Islamic constituents back home with photographs with the Imam.
“Only junior members of certain countries’ delegations got to meet the Imam,” the newspaper reported, quoting mosque sources.
New Delhi and Ankara have had strained relations over the years, mainly because of Turkey’s support to Pakistan on the Kashmir dispute at global forums such as the UN and the OIC.
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