Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan will be in New Delhi on a two day India visit commencing today(30April). This is Erdogan' s first visit as the President of Turkey though he had earlier came to India in 2008 as Prime Minister.

This visit assumes significance as barely two weeks ago he won a referendum, albeit by a slender margin securing nearly 51 per cent votes, to give himself enormous governance powers. Erdogan is not politically secure and his position remains imperilled by threats from within. The Turkish opposition has already cried foul alleging large scale manipulation in the referendum process. He had survived a military coup attempt last year raising fears of his political existence.

Against this backdrop, Erdogan is likely to present a bold face on his India trip to convey that he is in absolute control. He is expected to propose to the Indian side a strengthening of anti-terror cooperation and a deepening of ties with respect to investment and trade. On May 1, the Turkish President will hold talks with Prime Minister Modi where apart from these issues, the topic of the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) may come up for discussion. On the face of it, Turkey does not seem opposed to India's NSG membership yet it is expected to proceed with caution.

Amongst other issues, Erdogan will in all probability further sensitise India on the threat he perceives from Fethullah Gulen Terrorist Organisation ( FETO). Last year's coup attempt to dislodge Erdogan and the outfit's activists allegedly being harboured in India, remains a cause of concern to him. Erdogan is also learnt to be considering flagging his apprehensions that FETO has been able to infiltrate into India through educational institutions and associations.

This concern notwithstanding, there are reports that Turkey on its part has been covertly supporting Muslim Brotherhood elements in India. This is confirmed by his detractors in Turkey who allege that Erdogan is promoting Neo-Ottomanism following his referendum "triumph" which is also distancing Turkey from the West and ties with Germany, Netherlands and other EU countries are badly fractured. Following his referendum victory, Erdogan has become an ardent supporter of Sunni Salafi groups to counter Syria. His support, therefore, to the Muslim Brotherhood does not look surprising.

India, while dealing with Turkey during the Erdogan visit, must take into account the extraordinarily excellent relations that Turkey enjoys with Pakistan. They are already in a strategic relationship. Pakistan and the Turkish Air Force are in a formal deal where Turkey would buy 52 Super Mushkak trainer jets and Pakistan would help train Turkish pilots to support recovery of the Turkish armed forces to meet the shortage of hardware and pilots in the aftermath of the aborted coup last year. Further, there are regular joint naval exercises between the two countries. On Erdogan's last visit to Pakistan (incidentally he has paid seven visits to Pakistan) in the recent past , he addressed the joint session of parliament which was also attended by the top Pakistani military brass.

Military warming up apart, Turkey and Pakistan have a bilateral trade worth 10 billion dollars. Pakistan supports Turkey's position in Cyprus, Azerbaijan and Armenia – not so palatable to the West. Importantly, Turkey supports Pakistan on the Kashmir issue. This merits factoring in while dealing with Turkey.

Diplomatically, it appears ceremonially appropriate that Jamia Millia Islamia (JMI) is conferring a honorary doctorate on Erdogan. JMI hosts should also remind Turkey that Indian Muslims have all along supported Turkey. In 1912-13, a medical mission from India , under Dr Ansari, was dispatched to Turkey on compassionate grounds. It's high time Erdogan recognises this historical fact in letter and spirit and comes equally close to India to strengthen bilateral ties. Even Mahatma Gandhi had supported the Khilafat movement despite criticism from many quarters.

Turkey, under Erdogan, seems to be playing an active role in its efforts to contain the ISIS menace in the region. The terror attacks in Ankara and Istanbul airport have been eye openers for Erdogan. He must share hard time intelligence with India on ISIS related activities in the war-torn region and on participation of Indians, if any. It can be assumed that Turkey being in such close proximity to ISIS-affected areas will have access to real time intelligence and robust cooperation between the two countries will provide new focus to bilateral ties.

The writer is a retired IPS officer, a security analyst and Senior Fellow, India Police Foundation. The views expressed are personal.