Foreign Minister Constantinos Kombos, in a meeting with his Indian counterpart Subrahmanyam Jaishankar on Sunday, emphasised the need for diplomacy and dialogue in view of the ongoing conflict in the Middle East.

“It was a real pleasure meeting with my dear colleague Dr Jaishankar,” Kombos said after the minister’s meeting in Brussels, where he had travelled to attend the EU’s foreign affairs council and meetings with his European counterparts.

During their meeting, the ministers also discussed the relations between the EU and India, following the recent EU-India summit and the EU-India free trade agreement, which had been signed in January.

“[We had an exchange] on the profoundly concerning developments in the Middle East,” Kombos said.

As part of their meeting, Kombos and Jaishankar exchanged views on international conflicts including those in the Middle East and Russia’s war on Ukraine.

“[We discussed] further steps of the Cyprus-India strategic partnership, in view also of the upcoming visit of President Christodoulides to India,” he said.

President Nikos Christodoulides is set to travel to India in late May, accompanied by several ministers and a delegation of business owners, with the aim to boost economic and strategic ties between Cyprus and India.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi had paid a visit to the island in June 2025, for a visit that he described as adding “a significant impetus to relations between India and Cyprus, especially in areas such as trade, investment, and others,” emphasising that Cyprus was “a close friend and an important partner.”