Shimla, May 14 -- Following Turkey's open support for Pakistan amid recent tensions between India and its neighbour, farmer organisations across Himachal Pradesh have called on Prime Minister Narendra Modi to impose a complete ban on the import of apples from Turkey and enforce strict import duties and quality standards on apples coming from other countries.

This move also comes in response to the sharp increase in subsidized, cheap foreign apples flooding Indian markets, which local farmer bodies say is crippling the domestic apple economy, especially in Himalayan states like Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir and Uttarakhand.

In a letter addressed to Prime Minister Modi, the Himalayan Apple Growers Society, the Himachal Pradesh Sanyu...