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Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has become the first Indian leader to visit Greek Cyprus since 2002, making the trip as his first foreign visit following a border clash with Pakistan in early May.
According to The Indian Express and The Times of India, Modi’s decision to make Greek Cyprus his first foreign visit following a recent clash with Pakistan is being interpreted as a message to Türkiye.
India suffered significant military damages after short clashes with Pakistan.
Indian media recently falsely accused the Turkish aviation company Turkish Technic of causing the crash of a Boeing 787 aircraft in Gujarat, India.
The Indian Express wrote, ''Türkiye has not just supported Pakistan in terms of international resolutions and statements on Kashmir, during the recent conflict after Operation Sindoor, many of the drones Pakistan attacked India with were found to have been of Turkish origin. This has crossed a line for India.''
Turkish media outlet T24 highlighted that the photo of Modi looking at the Turkish Cyprus is a openly a message to Türkiye.
During the India-Pakistan tensions, Türkiye had openly voiced its support for Pakistan.
The Indian Express also reported that Greek Cyprus is seeking defense cooperation partners against Türkiye and would be open to assistance from India.
An analysis published in The Hindu Post added that, in response to Türkiye’s support for Pakistan, India has strengthened ties with Türkiye’s regional rivals—Greece, Armenia, Egypt, and Greek Cyprus.
The head of the Greek Cypriot Administration and India’s prime minister on Monday held wide-ranging discussions on “bilateral, regional, and global issues,” underscoring the “growing breadth and depth” of cooperation between the two sides, an official statement said.
According to the Indian Foreign Ministry, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Greek Cypriot leader Nikos Christodoulides was the first by an Indian premier to Greek Cyprus in over two decades.
The two sides welcomed recent progress in “economic, technological, and people-to-people ties, reflective of the dynamic and evolving nature of the relationship," said the statement by New Delhi.
It added that the two sides discussed the "need for reform of the United Nations Security Council, including ways to make it more effective, efficient, and representative of contemporary geopolitical challenges.”
The Greek Cypriot side also pledged to support reaching an EU-India free trade agreement by the end of this year.
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