NEW DELHI Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday said that conflicts such as the ongoing Israel-Iran hostilities underline the urgent need for global restraint, stressing that “this is not an era of war.”
His comments, made during a joint press appearance with Cyprus President Nikos Christodoulides, come amid renewed geopolitical turbulence in West Asia and were coupled with a pointed reaffirmation of India’s support for Cyprus’s territorial integrity, widely seen as a diplomatic signal to Turkey.
“We both expressed concern over the conflicts going on in West Asia and Europe. Their negative impact is not just limited to those regions,” Modi said. “We both consider that this is not an era of war. Resolution through dialogue and restoration of stability is the call of humanity.”
The remarks gain significance against the backdrop of escalating violence between Israel and Iran, which has drawn international alarm, and India's own diplomatic efforts to evacuate its nationals from the region while calling for de-escalation.
Modi also pivoted to issues closer to Cyprus, and Turkey. Standing alongside President Christodoulides, Modi reiterated India's “unwavering and consistent support for the independence, sovereignty, territorial integrity, and unity of the Republic of Cyprus.”
The joint declaration, on the implementation of the comprehensive partnership between the Republic of Cyprus and the Republic of India, issued after the meeting explicitly mentioned opposition to “unilateral actions”, a clear reference to Turkey’s continued military presence in northern Cyprus, which has defied decades of UN Security Council resolutions.
India’s message is widely interpreted as a diplomatic pushback against Turkey’s alignment with Pakistan, particularly in international forums where Ankara has frequently opposed Indian positions and shielded Islamabad from global scrutiny.
Modi also thanked Cyprus for backing India’s fight against cross-border terrorism. “We are thankful for Cyprus’s support to India’s fight against cross-border terrorism,” he said, in a remark layered with context, coming just weeks after Operation Sindoor, India’s military response to the 22 April Pahalgam terror attack, which killed 26 civilians.
President Christodoulides echoed solidarity with India, condemning the Pahalgam attack and offering condolences for the Air India plane crash in Ahmedabad on 12 June. Modi’s visit, his first foreign trip since Operation Sindoor, and the first by an Indian prime minister to Cyprus in over two decades, focused on bolstering ties in defence, trade, technology, renewable energy, and climate justice. But the underlying geopolitical signals were hard to miss.