THE President of India, Shri Ram Nath Kovind, reached Cyprus yesterday on the first leg of his State Visit to three European nations – Cyprus, Bulgaria and the Czech Republic. He addressed the members of the House of Representatives of Cyprus in Nicosia.
 
Speaking on the occasion, the President said that relations between Cyprus and India are old, deep and have multiple facets. He said that the strong connection between the citizens of Cyprus and India is the most important source of our bilateral energy. "From people-to-people contacts, we build economic and trade links, educational and intellectual connections, and a fruitful bilateral partnership. Then of course are issues of common concern and our mutual commitment to peace, security and sovereignty. This takes us to the multilateral sphere and to global matters, where inevitably we find ourselves on the same side," he added.
 
Two bilateral agreements were signed just after the delegation-level talks. The first, between the Financial Intelligence Unit, India, and Unit for Combating Money Laundering of Cyprus, aims at sharing financial intelligence and fighting money laundering, terror financing and related crimes. The second agreement commits both countries to greater cooperation on environmental issues.