India Discusses Cyprus With Turkiye After Erdogan Rakes Up Kashmir Issue At UNGA

United Nations, Sep 21 (PTI) External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar has discussed the Cyprus issue with Turkiye's Minister of Foreign Affairs Mevlut Cavusoglu, hours after the Turkish President raked up Kashmir in his address to the General Assembly.

Jaishankar met Cavusoglu on the second day of his engagements on the sidelines of the high-level General Assembly session here.

“Met FM @MevlutCavusoglu of Turkiye on sidelines of #UNGA. Wide ranging conversation that covered the Ukraine conflict, food security, G20 processes, global order, NAM and Cyprus,” Jaishankar said in a tweet on Tuesday.

The long ongoing problem in Cyprus began in 1974 when Turkey invaded the northern part of the country in response to a military coup on the island which was backed by the Greek government.

India has been advocating a peaceful resolution of the issue in accordance with the UN resolutions.

Hours earlier, in his address to the General Debate at the UN, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan raked up the issue of Kashmir during his address to world leaders at the UN General Assembly session.

“India and Pakistan, after having established their sovereignty and independence 75 years ago, they still haven't established peace and solidarity between one another. This is much unfortunate. We hope and pray that a fair and permanent peace and prosperity will be established in Kashmir,” Erdogan said on Tuesday in his remarks at the General Debate.

In recent years, the Turkish leader has referred to the issue of Kashmir in his address to world leaders at the high-level UN General Assembly session.

Last year in his address to the General Debate, Erdogan had said: “We maintain our stance in favour of solving the ongoing problem in Kashmir for 74 years, through dialogue between the parties and within the framework of relevant United Nations resolutions.”

In 2020, Erdogan in his pre-recorded video statement to the General Debate had made a reference to Jammu and Kashmir.

India at that time termed it as “completely unacceptable”, saying Turkey should learn to respect the sovereignty of other nations and reflect on its own policies more deeply.

Jaishankar also met the Foreign Minister of Libya, Najla Elmangoush and “appreciated her perspectives on the evolving situation in Libya.”

Following his meeting with Austrian Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg, Jaishankar tweeted “Great to meet my dear friend FM @a_schallenberg of Austria. Discussed expanding our cooperation in mobility and education. Appreciate his insights on the Ukraine conflict and its consequences.”

Jaishankar continued hectic diplomatic parleys with his counterparts from around the world on the sidelines of the high-level UN General Assembly session and discussed issues ranging from counter-terrorism cooperation to COVID19.

He called on the President of Ghana Nana Akufo-Addo and 'discussed our ongoing cooperation in the UN Security Council, especially on counterterrorism.' Jaishankar said in a tweet Tuesday that he 'appreciated the achievements of our development partnership.'

In his meeting with President of Comoros Azali Assoumani, Jaishankar welcomed his appreciation for India’s outreach in combating Covid-19 and dengue.

'Discussed taking forward our development partnership and working together on maritime security,' he said.

After his meeting with Foreign Minister Denis Moncada of Nicaragua, Jaishankar said in a tweet 'Interesting discussion on the global situation and its multilateral implications.'

(This story has been published from a wire agency feed without any modifications to the text. Only the headline has been changed.)