Mumbai, India. Cyprus’ state visit to India was marked by official meetings, agreements and formal appearances, but for Oesterreichischer Lloyd Shipping Group chief operating officer Sunil Kapoor it also carried personal significance. Kapoor said the visit brought together the country he came from, the island he chose and a partnership that is now coming of age.
Invitation to join delegation
Kapoor said the visit took on added meaning when he received a call from Invest Cyprus CEO Marios Tannousis. He said Tannousis informed him that he would join President Nikos Christodoulides on the state visit to India and take part in a high-level investors’ roundtable at the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel in Mumbai.
Kapoor said he had many questions at the time, while Tannousis asked him to wait for details and said that everything would be explained in due course.
Reflection on Cypriot approach
In recounting the exchange, Kapoor said people who have lived in Cyprus long enough would recognise that response. He described it not as evasion or indifference, but as a familiar operating philosophy on the island, adding that over nearly two decades he had found that it usually proved correct.
He said that same mixture of uncertainty, patience and eventual order accompanied the delegation on its journey to Mumbai.
President meets delegation members
Kapoor said that during the flight Christodoulides took time to meet each member of the delegation personally, a gesture he said set the tone for what followed.
According to Kapoor, their exchange then turned lighter. He introduced himself and said, with a smile, that he believed he was the only Indian on the aircraft and that, if he arrived safely in Mumbai, he could tell participants at the roundtable that Indians are very safe in Cyprus.
