India-Cyprus relations went a notch higher on Saturday when Nicosia (Cyprus’s capital) assured India of its continuing support for a permanent seat in the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) and agreed with President Pratibha Patil’s call for fighting terrorism.
In her discussions with Cyprus President Demetris Christofias at the Presidential Palance on the last day of her three-day state visit, Patil also called for early adoption of the Comprehensive Convention against Terrorism that India had proposed to the United Nations in 1996.
“Cyprus sides with you in the fight to deal with international terrorism, in the framework of the international law and the respect of human rights and individual liberties,” Christofias said.
“Our discussions covered the entire gamut of bilateral relations as well as international and regional issues....” Patil said after the meeting.
She also reiterated India’s support for the territorial integrity of Cyprus— in the backdrop of Nicosia’s controversy with Turkey over the occupied territory — and called for a resolution to the problem “in accordance with your (Cyprus’s) aspirations and resolutions of the UNSC.”
The visit — the first by an Indian president after two decades — is expected to boost political and economic ties and ensure a qualitative jump in the $68.7 million bilateral trade between the two countries.
{{/usCountry}}The visit — the first by an Indian president after two decades — is expected to boost political and economic ties and ensure a qualitative jump in the $68.7 million bilateral trade between the two countries.
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