PM Modi to visit Cyprus amid closer Pakistan-Turkey alignment after India’s Operation Sindoor

In line with India’s growing connection with Europe, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will stop in Cyprus en route to Canada for the G7 Summit, and he will visit Croatia on his way back.

PM Modi’s trip to Cyprus – a nation at odds with Turkey since 1974 – occurs amid increasing solidarity between Ankara and Islamabad after India’s Operation Sindoor, aimed at terror centers in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir in retaliation for the Pahalgam terror strike.

Cyprus and Croatia both belong to the European Union. Significantly, Cyprus will take on the rotating presidency of the EU Council during the first half of next year. Modi had previously planned to travel to Croatia, the Netherlands, and Norway last month, but the visit was delayed because of increased military tensions with Pakistan.

The G7 Summit is scheduled to take place in Kananaskis, Alberta, from June 15 to 17. Prime Minister Modi is anticipated to participate in the outreach session on the last day. As the invitation from Canada arrived on short notice, the specifics of his schedule are still being worked out. Initiatives are in progress to arrange bilateral discussions on the margins.

Modi’s trip to Cyprus will attract significant attention, as it represents just the third visit by an Indian Prime Minister—following A B Vajpayee in 2002 and Indira Gandhi in 1983. The visit occurs during tense relations between India and Turkey, which openly backed Pakistan during last month’s military clash between India and Pakistan. The conflict between Cyprus and Turkey is a long-standing territorial and political issue stemming from ethnic tensions and competing national interests. The situation intensified in 1974, as Turkey launched an invasion of northern Cyprus after a coup supported by Greece aimed at unifying the island with Greece.