PM to visit Cyprus, Croatia during his trip to Canada

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit Cyprus on his way to Canada to participate in the G-7 summit (June 15-17), and on the way back, he will pay a visit to Croatia. File | Photo Credit: PMO via PTI

NEW DELHI

Reiterating India’s traditional foreign policy goals, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit Cyprus and Croatia, official sources said in New Delhi on Monday (June 9, 2025).

Mr. Modi will visit Cyprus on his way to Canada to participate in the G-7 summit (June 15-17), and on the way back, he will pay a visit to Croatia, which will be the first-ever Prime Minister-level visit from the Indian side since the formation of Croatia in 1991 after the dissolution of former Yugoslavia.

Both visits are being described as important from a political as well as a commercial point of view. Sources in New Delhi hinted that the Cyprus visit will serve as a message to Türkiye, which had supplied weapons to Pakistan, which it used during Operation Sindoor in May. It will also act as a timely revival of top-level contacts as Cyprus is set to take over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union in the first half of 2026. Cyprus had condemned the terror attack in Pahalgam on April 22 and indicated that it would raise the issue of cross-border terrorism from Pakistan at the EU-level discussions.

Cyprus has been consistent in its support of India on the Kashmir issue and cross-border terrorism from Pakistan. That apart, the Mediterranean country, which has a territorial dispute with Ankara regarding the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, has also supported India in its campaign for a permanent seat at the U.N. Security Council, the Nuclear Suppliers Group, and the International Atomic Energy Agency. In a reciprocal gesture, India has supported the resolution of the Cypriot territorial dispute as per UNSC resolutions, international law, and the EU acquis, the collective EU body on laws and regulations.

Prime Minister Indira Gandhi had visited Cyprus in 1982, while Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee visited the island nation in 2002. External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar visited Nicosia in December 2022, while President Ram Nath Kovind visited in 2018. Officials said Mr. Modi is expected to meet President of Cyprus Nikos Christodoulides.

Mr. Modi’s visit to Croatia is also being described as a tribute to the strong tradition of Indology that exists in the country. The University of Zagreb has been a seat of serious study of Indology, and Croatia is noted for the presence of ISKCON (International Society of Krishna Consciousness).

In recent years, these cultural contacts were supplemented by growing defence and technological relationships. Croatian Foreign Minister Gordan Grlić-Radman participated in the Raisina Dialogue in March 2023, when he signed a memorandum of understanding on defence cooperation with Mr. Jaishankar.

Sources said the Croatia visit has additional diplomatic importance as it indicates India’s continued commitment to partners of the non-alignment, as the erstwhile Yugoslavia’s founding father, Josip Broz Tito, was a Croatian as well.

Officials in New Delhi indicated that both Cyprus and Croatia have acquired growing significance in recent years after the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC) was launched during the G-20 summit in New Delhi in 2023. Croatia and Cyprus are being viewed here as “potential participants” and investors in the IMEC-related projects. Croatia, with its extensive maritime facilities and ports on the Adriatic Sea, is attractive for India’s commitment to the IMEC, sources said, setting the context of Mr. Modi’s upcoming visit.

Published - June 09, 2025 10:44 pm IST