Greece and India agree to boost military ties

After a productive meeting today in Athens, Greece and India have agreed to increase military relations between the two countries.

On Twitter, Greek Defense Minister Nikos Panagiotopoulos said:

"Meeting with the Ambassador of India to Greece, Amrit Lugun, in the context of his ceremonial visit today to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. We discussed issues of further deepening our bilateral relations in the defense sector and promote cooperation between the defense industries of our two countries."

In the photos published by Panagiotopolos, it is noticed that artworks resembling the Greek War of Independence and a naval battle against the Turks were clearly on display in the meeting between the Defense Minister and the Indian Ambassador.

The boost in military ties between Greece and India comes at a time when Pakistan continues provocations in the East Mediterranean on behalf of Turkey, despite being located 5,000km away from Greece.

Following the failed coup in Turkey in July 2016, the regime of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan ousted from the armed forces and state services anyone who had the slightest indication of dissent or a relationship with such views.

Among those imprisoned or expelled, according to official figures from the Turkish Ministry of Defense, were 680 pilots of the air force out of a total of 1,350 in Turkey. In addition, of the remaining 670, some left voluntarily, and others retired, bringing the number to less than 400.

As recently as June 2020, but beginning in early 2019, incidents have been recorded where Turkish planes are flown by Pakistani pilots, including in Greek airspace.

And while this is happening, the few Turkish pilots continue to dwindle, making for the first time in history a national air force heavily manned by pilots of a foreign nation.

The rivalry between India and Pakistan is well recorded, while the "brotherly" relations between Pakistan and Turkey is well established. However, there is no obvious indication to suggest that the boost in military relations between Greece and India is related to the Pakistani-Turkish friendship.