India and Greece are looking at expanding bilateral ties on the cultural and educational front, Ioannis Chryssoulakis, secretary general for Greeks abroad and public diplomacy, Greece’s ministry of foreign affairs, told ThePrint.
“Indo-Greek relations are based on shared culture and history. Greece sees India as the next emerging power and we have been working on increasing cooperation on the economic, cultural and educational fronts,” said the senior Greek official.
Chryssoulakis was speaking on the sidelines of a conference at Delhi’s Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU). Titled The Greek World and India: History, Culture and Trade from the Hellenistic Period to Modern Times, the ongoing conference, to conclude Friday, will see 40 scholars from both countries present findings on the shared history, culture and literature.
“Greek citizens have great respect for Gandhi (Mahatma Gandhi), since he was one of the most notable proponents of democracy, a Greek theory,” said Chryssoulakis.
Talking about his meeting with Meenakshi Lekhi Monday, minister of state (MoS), Ministry of External Affairs and Culture, the Greek secretary general said the discussion had focussed on ways to expand cultural ties between India and Greece.
“A student exchange programme is in the works for students of theatre institutes in the two countries. In addition to this, two music composers from both countries will be selected, who will collaborate and create an album which will be promoted by the two countries,” said Chryssoulakis.
India and Greece are looking to increase bilateral ties with India’s Minister for External Affairs S. Jaishankar visiting Athens in 2021 and his counterpart, Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias coming to New Delhi this year.
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