Indian travel platforms boycott Turkiye, China, Azerbaijan for supporting Pakistan

As Pakistan's regional allies voiced strong support during its conflict with India, several Indian travel booking platforms responded by announcing boycotts of travel to Turkiye, China, and Azerbaijan.

Ixigo's Managing Director and CEO, Aloke Bajpai, shared a statement on X, saying, “Enough is enough! Blood and bookings won't flow together.” He added, “We are suspending all flight and hotel bookings for Turkiye, China, and Azerbaijan on ixigo.”

According to Indian media reports, other travel platforms followed suit, suspending travel packages to Turkiye and Azerbaijan. Cox & Kings also halted all bookings to Azerbaijan and Uzbekistan.

The diplomatic tensions come in the wake of a recent military conflict between Pakistan and India, during which several regional powers, including Turkiye, China, and Azerbaijan, openly backed Pakistan.

Others, including global players, urged both nuclear-armed neighbors to exercise restraint.

Notably, no country officially endorsed India's position, except Israel, which offered verbal support but made no diplomatic moves.

Even India’s close ally, Russia, chose to remain neutral and refrained from backing New Delhi. The United States intervened only after a request from India to help broker a ceasefire following Pakistan’s retaliatory military response.

Amid this backdrop, nationalist sentiment in India surged, with social media users launching online campaigns against several Muslim-majority countries, particularly Turkiye and Azerbaijan. This included widespread abuse and boycott calls.

India also experienced a brief diplomatic fallout with Iran after an Indian army officer publicly insulted the Iranian foreign minister on live television, accusing him of siding with Pakistan.