Narendra Modi is coming to Athens, the first Indian Prime Minister to visit Greece since 1983 - forty years ago!
The Indian prime minister's meeting with his Greek counterpart Kyriakos Mitsotakis was not preceded by (the usual) months of preparation. It was a last-minute decision as there was an opening in Modi's schedule following his return from the BRICS Summit (22 – 24/8) in Johannesburg, South Africa.
Andreas Papandreou welcomed Indira Gandhi to Greece in 1983. Still, it is now the turn of Mitsotakis to directly accept the request, especially as he prioritises the deepening of relations between the two ancient civilisations.
Athens has identified India as a critical country for Greece to develop ties, recognising that India is a growing superpower with many shared interests relating to security, economics, culture and values.
Although India is the most populous country with 1.4 billion inhabitants, Greek exports barely correspond to 1 euro per Indian. India has annual outbound tourism of 40 million high-income people, and given the Greek economy relies heavily on tourism, Greece wants to tap into this market.
Meetings with 12 entrepreneurs
When Modi's plane flies from Johannesburg to Athens, another aircraft will fly from New Delhi to Athens, carrying 12 Indian business people. Due to the minimal time to prepare for the trip, Deputy Foreign Minister Kostas Fragogiannis and Alexis Patelis, chief economic adviser to Mitsotakis, are organising their meetings with Greek businesspeople.
Post-Brexit Indians are looking for a stable ally that could be the gateway for Indian businesses to the European Union. Athens endorses such a perspective and wants to "build" the appropriate framework of understanding that would help to develop such a cooperative relationship between the two countries.
This is why Mitsotakis is also planning to visit India with a large group of Greek businessmen in the near future; a government source told Greek City Times.
Athens wants to develop economic cooperation in tourism, workforce issues, technology (as India has advanced companies in this field), commercial cooperation in the pharmaceutical industry, agriculture, and more.
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