New Delhi, May 23 (IANS) President Droupadi Murmu has received the Cyprus President Nikos Christodoulides at the Rashtrapati Bhavan in the national capital and hosted a banquet in his honour.

President Murmu said on Friday that the elevation of India–Cyprus relations to the level of a Strategic Partnership reflects the trust that has existed between our two countries for decades, and opens new opportunities for expanding mutual cooperation.

Earlier on Friday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Cyprus President Christodoulides held bilateral talks at Hyderabad House in New Delhi.

PM Modi announced that ties between India and Cyprus have been elevated to a strategic partnership.

He said that Cyprus President Christodoulides’ visit to India marks the “next milestone” in the shared journey of the two nations.

“Today’s meeting stands as a confirmation that Cyprus and India are not simply strengthening bilateral ties. We are building a partnership with strategic depth and global relevance. For our countries, our peoples, and for our respective regions,” Christodoulides said on social media platform X after the meeting.

“A partnership built on trust and on the conviction that dialogue and cooperation, not confrontation, is the path forward,” he added.

While addressing a joint press meet with President Christodoulides following their talks at Hyderabad House on Friday, PM Modi said, “Cyprus is one of India’s top 10 investors. In the last decade, investments from Cyprus in India have nearly doubled. Trust between the two countries has grown. The India-EU FTA has opened up new opportunities. Leveraging this, we aim to double this investment once again over the next five years, and to realise this commitment, today we are elevating our trusted partnership to the level of a strategic partnership.”

According to the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), the meeting outcomes include elevation of ties to a strategic partnership, besides signing of several agreements — including on a Joint Working Group on Counter-Terrorism, diplomatic training between Sushma Swaraj Institute of Foreign Service (SSIFS) and the Diplomatic Academy of Cyprus’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and also in the field of higher education and research.

–IANS

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