India has been invited to be part of the next trilateral summit involving Cyprus, Israel and Greece and expected to take place in a year’s time.
Cyprus President Nikos Christodoulides specifically told journalists in Nicosia on Monday: “We reaffirmed our strong commitment to the 3+1 format with the United States and agreed on the value of intensifying 3+1 cooperation, with concrete deliverables also with other countries and we talked specifically about India.”
Christodoulides was addressing a joint press conference with Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu at the end of a trilateral meeting.
The summit took place to discuss regional energy cooperation and focus on exports to Europe, especially natural gas and renewables.
Echoing similar sentiments, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu talked about plans to expand the 3+1 format beyond the United States and potentially include India.
“There’s something else that could develop, and we discussed it at great length,” the Israeli leader said.
“All three countries view that as a great possibility, but they also see that this could lead to a connection between India, the Arabian Peninsula, Israel, Cyprus, Greece, Europe.
“There is a natural…there is a geographic connection but it could be also something that would lead to many rewards for our peoples and our countries,” he added.
Moreover, a joint written statement following the conclusion of the 9th trilateral summit, the three leaders said: “We agreed that the energy sector, and in particular, natural gas, electricity and renewable energy, is a solid foundation for cooperation in the region.
“(This should be) based on international law including the law of the sea and the respect of all states to exercise their rights in their respective Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) and continental shelf.”
