India Cyprus Greece defence ties will be the focus of a four-day visit by Defence Secretary Rajesh Kumar Singh to the Eastern Mediterranean from Monday. Maritime security and defence industrial cooperation will be the main themes of his talks in both countries, the Ministry of Defence said on Saturday.

India Cyprus Greece defence agenda puts maritime security first

The Defence Secretary will be in Cyprus on Monday and Tuesday. Greece follows. The tour ends on Thursday.

Both countries are EU members. Each sent a senior leader to New Delhi this year, Cyprus its President in May and Greece its Defence Minister in February.

The India Cyprus Greece defence engagement adds to a busy year of overseas talks for the Defence Secretary, who co-chaired the defence policy dialogue in Tokyo in July and held talks with Armenia's leadership in Yerevan in August.

Cyprus talks follow President's State Visit in May

In Cyprus, he is scheduled to meet his counterparts in the Cypriot Ministry of Defence and call on the country's leadership, according to the ministry.

The meetings come five months after Cyprus President Nikos Christodoulides paid a State Visit to India from May 20 to 23. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Christodoulides agreed during that visit to raise the relationship from a Comprehensive Partnership to a Strategic Partnership, according to the joint statement issued at the time. The ministry said the partnership had gained further momentum since then. It added that the Defence Secretary's visit would deepen bilateral engagement, particularly in the maritime domain.

Defence roadmap runs to 2031

The two sides concluded a roadmap for cooperation between their defence ministries covering 2026 to 2031 during the May visit, according to the list of outcomes released then. Cyprus also joined the Indo-Pacific Oceans Initiative, and a Joint Working Group on counter-terrorism was set up.

Cyprus held the EU Council Presidency from January to June.

Greece leg builds on February ministerial talks

In the second leg, the Defence Secretary will interact with the senior defence and military leadership of Greece, the ministry said.

Greek Minister of National Defence Nikos Dendias visited India in February and held talks with Defence Minister Rajnath Singh in New Delhi on February 9. The two sides signed a Joint Declaration of Intent on defence industrial cooperation, meant as the starting point for a five-year roadmap. It pairs India's Aatmanirbhar Bharat push with Greece's Agenda 2030 defence reforms. Greece also announced that it would post an International Liaison Officer at the Information Fusion Centre for the Indian Ocean Region (IFC-IOR) in Gurugram, which tracks shipping and maritime security across the region.

India and Greece raised their ties to a Strategic Partnership during Prime Minister Modi's visit to Athens in 2023.

India EU defence partnership signed in January

The tour comes as India seeks closer defence and strategic cooperation with EU partners. India and the EU signed a Security and Defence Partnership on January 27 at the 16th India-EU Summit in New Delhi. It covers maritime security, defence industry and technology, cyber threats, counter-terrorism and space.

India became the third Asian country, after Japan and South Korea, to sign such a partnership with the bloc.

Bilateral industry deals with EU members have followed. Ten defence industry agreements were signed during a Belgian government delegation's visit to New Delhi in September, covering areas from rockets and ammunition to mine countermeasures.

The two sides also agreed to an annual Security and Defence Dialogue and opened talks on a Security of Information Agreement.