The Foreign Minister of Cyprus, Constantinos Kombos, will pay a three-day (October 29-31) visit to India, the Ministry of External Affairs has announced. Mr. Kombos will hold a meeting with External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar at the Hyderabad House on Thursday and deliver the 55th Sapru House Lecture at the Indian Council of World Affairs (ICWA) later that day.
India-Cyprus relations received a boost this summer when Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Nicosia and held talks with the President of Cyprus, Nikos Christodoulides, on June 15-16. Official sources here highlighted that Cyprus has been one of the “most consistent” supporters of India on the Kashmir issue, and it was also among the first countries that condemned the April 22 terrorist attack in Pahalgam where 26 individuals were killed and dozens wounded.
The Republic of Cyprus has a long-standing territorial dispute with Northern Cyprus (Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus), and the issue is expected to feature in the exchanges that Mr. Kombos will have in New Delhi. Sources here acknowledged that Turkiye’s support to Pakistan during Operation Sindoor provides a new dimension to India-Cyprus relations, as this relation has an “irritant value” that can be used to counter Turkiye’s ties with Pakistan. Apart from its relation with Pakistan, Turkiye has frequently taken up the Kashmir issue on international platforms.
