Greek FM meets with Jaishankar: "Greece wants to become India's gateway to the EU"

Greece hopes to become an integral part of the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC) and to be India's gateway to the European Union, Foreign Minister George Gerapetritis said on Tuesday at the 2nd CII India Europe Business and Sustainability Conclave in New Delhi, the foreign ministry said.

According to Gerapetritis, this ambitious connectivity project will "enhance the strategic importance of the regions involved, both economically and from a geopolitical aspect, while promoting peace and stability."

In India ahead of Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis's Wednesday visit, Gerapetritis greeted the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) conclave with his Indian counterpart Subrahmanyam Jaishankar immediately after their bilateral meeting.

He also praised Jaishankar's contribution to building the Greece-India strategic partnership, which he said was based on common values of democracy, peace, justice, respect for the rule of law, and a rules-based global order.

Pointing out that he had come at the head of a business delegation of 100 Greek entrepreneurs seeking to explore the prospects for collaboration and cooperation, he also highlighted the opportunities offered by the EU-India relationship for promoting stability and prosperity, including a large market with half a billion consumers, highly trained labour and a single market without trade barriers, among others.

Meeting with Jashankar

At the meeting with his Indian counterpart Jaishankar, Gerapetritis underlined the great opportunities for collaboration between the two countries in facing challenges, including the Red Sea crisis's repercussions on international shipping security.

For Greece, which has the leading marine merchants in the world, he said, carrying out marine trade unobstructed and restoring supply chains is very important.

The IMEC, he said, offers great opportunities for closer ties between Greece and India through the Middle East, as Greece has high-level infrastructure and ports with horizontal and vertical energy interconnections, while India is the largest democracy in the world.

On his part, Jashankar said India's Strategic Relationship with Greece is important, and both countries can work to resolve regional challenges and search for corridors connecting the markets of India, the Pacific, and Europe.

The Indian minister showed particular interest in learning more about plans for the transport of 'green' hydrogen and also reviewed with Gerapetritis the possibility of promoting peace and stability in the entire Middle East by linking India with Europe through Greece.

The bilateral issues they examined in political and economic collaboration were mutual investments and the Treaty on Migration and Mobility currently being discussed by the two countries.

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