India and Cyprus Elevate Bilateral Ties to Strategic Partnership During Presidential Visit

Key facts

• Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi and Cyprus President Nikos Christodoulides elevated bilateral relations to a Strategic Partnership during high-level talks in New Delhi.
• The two nations signed six agreements, including a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to establish a Joint Working Group (JWG) on counter-terrorism and another between the Sushma Swaraj Institute of Foreign Service and the Diplomatic Academy of Cyprus.
• Agreements were also signed for cooperation in higher education, culture (2026–2030), and innovation between India’s Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) and Cyprus’s Deputy Ministry of Research, Innovation and Digital Policy.
• A technical arrangement for search and rescue operations was concluded between the Larnaca Joint Rescue Coordination Center of Cyprus and India’s Ministry of Defence (MoD), alongside a defence cooperation roadmap for 2026–2031.
• Cyprus joined the Indo-Pacific Oceans Initiative (IPOI) trade pillar, announced a new Trade Center in Mumbai, and scheduled the first India-Cyprus Space Day for May 18, 2026.
• India will gift a Bharat Health Initiative for Sahyog Hita & Maitri (BHISM) Cube to Cyprus as part of the new bilateral strategic initiatives which include dedicated Cyber Security and Consular Dialogues.