External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar met his Cypriot counterpart Ioannis Kasoulides here on Thursday, and the two sides signed three agreements, including an MOU on defence and military cooperation. Jaishankar landed in Cyprus earlier in the day on his first official visit as the two nations mark 60 years of diplomatic relations.
During his visit, Jaishankar met with his Cypriot colleague Kasoulides, with whom he signed a defence and military cooperation agreement, a letter of intent on immigration and mobility, and an agreement on Cyprus’s membership in the International Solar Alliance (ISA).
Kasoulides said India and Cyprus were driven by their partnership to diversify and deepen the people-to-people contact to shape a naturally strong and longstanding bond of friendship.
Jaishankar said it was a “matter of pleasure to be here on my first official visit as the Minister of External Affairs and this takes place as we mark 60 years of our diplomatic relations. It is a matter of particular pride and pleasure that I could be here for the occasion”.
According to the minister, his meeting with his Cypriot colleague indicates India’s commitment to expanding bilateral collaboration. “The India-Cyprus alliance is really important,” he remarked.
The exchange of ideas on the myriad critical concerns confronting the world community today was very beneficial.
“We have had today very productive discussions on our bilateral relations, on our multilateral cooperation, on geopolitical and regional challenges. So we exchanged views on our respective neighbourhoods, on the Indo-Pacific, on the Middle East or West Asia as we call it, on Europe, on India-EU relations,” Jaishankar told reporters.
Describing the agreements as “important”, Jaishankar said the two countries have inked an MoU on Defence and Military Cooperation.
The second was the Letter of Intent on Migration and Mobility Partnership which, he said, will provide a common framework of arrangement and cooperation to facilitate the mobility of students, academics, business people and professionals and also help in combating irregular migration.