Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit Greece on 25 August following the BRICS Summit in South Africa. Modi will receive a ceremonial reception on his arrival and then hold meetings with Greek President Katerina Sakellaropoulou and Prime Minister Kyriakos.
Following the meeting, Modi will attend a business lunch hosted by Mitsotakis. During his one-day visit to Greece, the Indian leader will also lay a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Athens and interact with the Indian community there.
Greece and India will aim to strengthen their relations during the visit of PM Narendra Modi to Athens on Friday, the first by an Indian leader in four decades.
The visit opens new ways for further strengthening trade, business, investment and defence relations. Greece wants to improve bilateral ties on a commercial and economic basis.
Tellingly, bilateral trade peaked at 1.32 billion euros in 2022, the most significant level in the previous five years, up by 58%.
Aside from the heavy manufacturing sector in India, which is eager to enter the European market via Greece, other sectors with rapid growth in India – including technology, pharmaceuticals, aerospace, energy, tourism, shipping, mining and food – are also interested in forming business partnerships.
Reports say India is also exploring the possibility of using Greece’s Port of Piraeus for its European exports.
India has strengthened ties with Greece in the past decade as its interests expand from the Indian Ocean to the Eastern Mediterranean. Indeed, Maritime Executive reports that India’s economic security is linked to the control of sea routes connecting Europe and India.
As of last year, the bilateral trade between the EU and India was at historical highs, with $130 billion worth of goods traded. The specialist publication adds that the growth of this segment for India is thought to be behind India’s commitment to have the Arab-Med corridor to Europe functional as soon as possible.
“We really want to act as India’s gateway to Europe. And we are ready for it, offering a comprehensive privatisation scheme that includes seaports and airports and logistics hubs for Indian investors to start the gateway,” Greece Charge d’affaires Alexandros Boudouris told the Times of India.
Greece and India in a higher orbit of cooperation
Modi’s visit to Greece will take the bilateral relationship to a much higher orbit of cooperation in the strategic domain.
In a statement, Modi underscored, “Our ties have been strengthened by shared values of democracy, rule of law and pluralism and cooperation in diverse sectors such as trade and investment, defence and cultural people to people contacts have been bringing our two countries closer together.”
India and Greece enjoy a high level of political trust encompassing strategic contours of the bilateral relationship, a former senior Indian diplomat writes.
“Both are sensitive and supportive to each other’s core concerns,” Anil Trigunayat says in an article published at First Post.
“Athens stood by New Delhi during the trying times in 1998 when India faced sanctions from the Western world. Not only that, their Defence Minister travelled to India and signed an MoU for Defence Cooperation.
“It also supported India on the Jammu and Kashmir issue while commiserating with it in countering terrorism and confronting perpetrators of cross-border terrorism.
“India also supports the Greek stance on the Cyprus issue. Athens supports the Indian quest for the UN Security Council permanent seat… Space and Shipping are sunrise sectors of cooperation for both countries,” Trigunayat says.
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This post was last modified on August 25, 2023 1:51 am