New Delhi

Defence Secretary Rajesh Kumar Singh has met Cypriot defence minister Vasilis Palmas, as both sides underlined the "untapped potential" and explored ways for further expansion in the cooperation, officials said on Tuesday.

They also exchanged views on a range of bilateral, regional and global issues, in which maritime security cooperation emerged as one of the major areas of common interest.

Singh is on an official visit to Cyprus and Greece from October 12-15.

Maritime security and defence industrial cooperation will remain prominent themes during the discussions with both countries, the defence ministry had said ahead of his visit on October 10.

The ministry in a series of posts on X, shared an update on his engagements in Cyprus.

Defence Secretary Singh called on defence minister of Cyprus, Vasilis Palmas, it said in a post.

"Both sides underlined the untapped potential for further expansion in the ongoing defence and defence industrial cooperation and exchanged views on a range of bilateral, regional and global issues, in which maritime security cooperation emerged as one of the major areas of common interest, "it added.

In a separate post, the ministry said Singh called on Stelios Kountouris, Permanent Secretary, and officials of the Armament Directorate of the Republic of Cyprus on October 13. Discussions focused on strengthening bilateral defence industrial cooperation.

"India expressed its willingness to collaborate with Cyprus in maritime security through capacity building, expert-level exchanges and technical assistance, leveraging India's expertise in coastal security and maritime cooperation," it added.

Defence Secretary Singh also had a separate meeting with Chief of the National Guard of the Republic of Cyprus, Lt Gen Emmanouel Theodorou, to discuss bilateral defence and security cooperation and regional security developments.

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"Both sides agreed to enhance military-to-military engagement and explore collaboration in training and capacity building in emerging domains, including AI, Cyber Security, Electronic Warfare and Multi-Domain Operations," it posted on X.