New Delhi: As India works to expand its footprint in Europe, PM Narendra Modi will visit the G7 Summit and Cyprus on the way to Canada for Croatia while returning home.Both Cyprus and Croatia are members of the European Union and will organize the Rotation of the European Union Council for the first half of the next year. Modi was scheduled to travel to Croatia with the Netherlands and Norway last month, but the visit was postponed due to military tension between India and Pakistan.The G7 Summit takes place in Kananskis in Alberta from 15 to 17 June, Modi attended the outreach session on the last day. The eleventh hour invitation by Canada means that the PM’s program remains to be finalized, but government sources said efforts are underway to determine bilateral meetings.The visit to Cyprus, after AB Vajpayee in 2002, will be closely followed by an Indian PM only after the third and Indira Gandhi in 1983 as it falls in the midst of tension between India and Turki -later supports – and was shown to be one of the solidaries by President Recep Erdogan.Differences over the recognition of Ankara of the so -called Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus in the northern region seized by Turkish forces in 1974 and the rights of gas discovery in Eastern Mediterranean remain a constant source of tension between Turkish and Cyprus. India has constantly resolved it as a Cyprus problem through UNSC resolutions and international law.As the Turkas stand concrete with Pakistan, India has demanded to strengthen relations with both Cyprus and Greece, focusing on defense and security cooperation. Modi became the first Indian PM to travel to Greece in 40 years when he traveled to Athens in 2023. Both countries have supported India on issues related to terrorism and also on Kashmir. According to Mea, Cyprus has supported India on India’s election such as UNSC, Indo-US Civil Nuclear Agreement, NSG membership and 1998 nuclear tests. Even after Modi’s visit to Croatia, there will be the first visit by any Indian PM in the country. S Jaishankar became the first Indian Foreign Minister to visit the South East European country in 2021 as 2 countries expanded bilateral relations. Two years later, India and Croatia also signed a memorandum for defense cooperation.
