President Nikos Christodoulides arrived in Mumbai on Wednesday afternoon at the start of a state visit to India, accompanied by ministers and what the Cyprus Chamber of Commerce and Industry described as the largest business delegation Cyprus has ever sent to the Indian market in decades. More than 45 Cypriot companies are taking part, with over 200 Indian businesspeople and company representatives expected to attend the Cyprus-India Business Forum on Thursday.
Christodoulides stepped off the plane wearing traditional Indian dress and was received at the airport by the Governor, the Chief Minister and the Protocol Minister of Maharashtra state, before walking a red carpet in the presence of an honorary military guard. At the Taj Mahal Palace hotel, he attended a brief traditional welcome ceremony with folk dances.
Later on Wednesday, the President was due to pay tribute to the victims of the November 2008 terrorist attacks, observing a minute's silence and laying a wreath at the memorial near the hotel, one of the sites seized by gunmen during the coordinated assault that killed 34 people, among them Cypriot national Andreas Liveras.
Investment, IMEC and a European gateway pitch
The economic substance of the visit will dominate Thursday's programme in Mumbai, with Christodoulides addressing the Cyprus-India Business Forum, meeting Indian businesspeople and investors, attending the inauguration of Eurobank's representative office in the city, and visiting the National Stock Exchange of India. Around 250 targeted business-to-business meetings have already been scheduled, according to Philokypros Roussounidis, secretary general of the Cyprus Chamber of Commerce and Industry, who told Politis the mission represents "a historic and strategically important initiative" for deepening bilateral economic and commercial ties.
Invest Cyprus chief executive Marios Tannousis said the agency will host a dedicated roundtable exclusively for Indian investors, large companies and conglomerates interested in sectors including technology, logistics, research and innovation, energy, and security and defence. European headquartering by Indian groups is also on the table. "The signals we are receiving are positive and we hope they will translate into action," Tannousis told Politis, noting that momentum had built since Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Cyprus and that the past three years of investment-attraction work were beginning to bear results.
The India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor, known as IMEC, is expected to feature prominently in the President's discussions, government spokesman Konstantinos Letymbiotis indicated ahead of the trip. Cyprus wants to position itself not only as a geographical gateway in the corridor but as a diplomatic and political one, he said. Several memoranda of understanding are expected to be signed during the visit, with Christodoulides noting before departure that the agreements would reflect "the readiness and political will of both countries to further strengthen our relations." The launch of direct flight negotiations between Cyprus and India is also on the agenda.
Notably absent from the delegation is the Employers and Industrialists Federation, whose president Giorgos Pantelides recently expressed strong frustration at the organisation's exclusion from international government business missions.
New Delhi
The delegation moves to New Delhi on Thursday evening. On Friday, Christodoulides is scheduled to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi and later President Droupadi Murmu, who will host an official dinner in his honour.
