“The most famous Greek to come to India was of course Alexander the Great. He arrived at the head of an invading army in 326 BC- but he left as a friend. Every Indian schoolchild knows of how Alexander and Porus fought a pitched battle and then became allies,” India’s President Kovind tweeted to his 4 million followers around the world on Tuesday, while visiting Greece.
President Kovind also said that Greece and India can boost bilateral trade to more than 1 billion euros next year.
Addressing a Greece-India Business Forum organised by the Indian embassy in Greece in cooperation with Enterprise Greece, the President of India said that Indian businessmen can find the right partners in Greece in the sector of tourism, as India expects to have big growth by 2022 and added that startup companies from India and Greece could seek partnership opportunities in agricultural production, farm product processing, shipping, tourism, pharmaceuticals, energy, entertainment, metals, production and selling of food/beverage, clothing and footwear. He added that during his meeting with President of the Hellenic Republic Prokopios Pavlopoulos they talked about the vast possibilities for further improving bilateral relations, at least in the technological and industrial sectors.
Greek exports to India totalled 62.5 million euros in 2016, mostly of cotton, marble and granite, and aluminium, while imports from India totalled 298 million euros, mostly of machinery, fish, vehicles, organic chemical products, seeds and fruit.
From his end India’s President stressed that choosing to visit Greece first during his visit to Europe reflects the long-standing friendship of the two countries and the desire to deepen ties with Greece.
