India has a role, if it is asked for by both parties
With its growing clout, India is seeking to assume a larger role in international affairs. It is already a big player in the United Nations' peacekeeping missions and is part of several multilateral initiatives encompassing climate change to defence to geo-politics. But the more New Delhi engages itself globally the more it will come across dilemmas when it has to take sides or even balance its position on contentious matters involving parties that are friendly to India. An instance of this situation is the Turkey-Cyprus conflict. In a recent statement, Cyprus’s President Nicos Anastasiades said he would request Prime Minister Narendra Modi to intervene on the unification of Cyprus. He is visiting India this week. Northern Cyprus in under Turkish control and President Anastasiades is seeking to free that part of his nation and re-unite it with the rest. However, Turkey is unlikely to give up on its claim that easily. Cyprus's President believes that since New Delhi has warm relations with Turkey, it can persuade the latter to find an amicable solution. It's a coincidence that Turkey's President too will be arriving in India in a few days from now. While it's true that India shares good ties with both Turkey and Cyprus, it's to be seen whether it can perform the needed balancing act. This is, of course, assuming that India accepts Cyprus's request for help in the matter.
It's not as if India and Turkey are such close friends — remember that Turkey has yet to endorse India's bid for the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) membership. India's leverage with Ankara, therefore, is limited. At the same time, it's unlikely that Turkey will offhand reject India's word, if and when it is spoken. The Cyprus unification issue is a complicated one, and New Delhi would be fully aware of both the possibilities and the pitfalls in getting into the issue. Besides, Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, recently armed with a referendum that has given him enormous powers and downsized Parliament, may not be in a mood to be seen as concessionary at this stage, because he has a domestic audience to cater to. Moreover, Ankara's position has been that it has a legitimate right to be present in Northern Cyprus for ethnic and historical reasons. This is obviously unacceptable to Cyprus which believes that Turkish forces have been in illegal occupation of its territory.
The best that New Delhi can do is to put in a polite word on the issue to the visiting Turkish President and leave it to his wisdom to take the matter ahead. Of course, if Turkey is willing for a role for India, then it's an entirely different matter. In any case, India must tread carefully. Bilateral issues are best decided bilaterally. The counter-argument can be that we must not hesitate to use our standing in the global community to help resolve issues. Such an engagement not only enhances India's credibility but also sends the message across, especially to those that are hostile to it, or place hurdles in its bid to join multilateral forums such as the NSG, that New Delhi has the ability to reach out to friends and well-wishers across the globe to pursue its objectives. It is already engaged in efforts to seek peace in Afghanistan through a global initiative despite Pakistan's (and China's) efforts to shut it out.