New Delhi: Calling India and Greece a “natural match”, Prime Minister Narendra Modi Friday said the two countries have decided to advance bilateral ties to the level of a strategic partnership.
Modi was addressing a joint press conference in Athens with his Greek counterpart Kyriakos Mitsotakis. He was on a day-long visit to the Mediterranean country, the first by an Indian PM since Indira Gandhi in 1983.
Modi’s visit to Greece is significant as the European country shares a troubled relationship with its neighbour Turkey, which is a close ally of Pakistan — Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has often spoken unequivocally in support of Pakistan on issues such as Kashmir and the heat Islamabad faces from the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) over terror funding.
“India and Greece are cooperating on various geopolitical, international and regional issues, whether it may be in the Indo-Pacific or the Mediterranean,” PM Modi said.
The two leaders, he added, “support dialogue and diplomacy on the issue of Ukraine”.
The relationship between Greece and Turkey, both NATO members, is fraught on account of several factors, including maritime boundaries and the decades-old Cyprus dispute centred on a partition between the island country’s Greek and Turkish communities since 1974.
Reunification talks between the Greek and Turkish Cypriots, brokered by the UN, broke down in 2017.
India has been advocating a peaceful resolution of the issue in accordance with the UN resolutions.
Last month, Greece and Turkey agreed to “reset” relations after an hour-long bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the NATO summit in Lithuania.
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Trade to migration
The Prime Minister held bilateral talks with his Greek counterpart as well as President Katerina Sakellaropoulou on issues ranging from trade and investment, technology and defence to skill development, pharmaceuticals and migration.
Greece expressed its support for “early implementation of the India-EU Connectivity Partnership”, an initiative that envisages enhancing digital, energy, transport and people-to-people connectivity.
In their joint statement, the two countries said, “Both leaders noted that the EU and India have largest democratic and free market space in the world, and agreed that deepening EU-India relations would be mutually beneficial and have a positive regional and global impact.”
It added, “The two prime ministers expressed their strong support for the ongoing India-EU trade and investment negotiations and the early implementation of the India-EU Connectivity Partnership.”
Officials from India and the 27-nation European Union are reportedly expected to meet in New Delhi Saturday after the G20 trade ministerial in Jaipur, to look at the progress in talks on the proposed free trade agreement (FTA).
Negotiations on an India-EU FTA began in 2007, but they were terminated in 2013 due to disagreements on issues such as customs duties on automobiles and spirits. Talks resumed last year and so far five rounds of negotiations have taken place.
On arriving in the Greek capital, PM Modi was conferred with the Grand Cross of the Order of Honour by President Katerina Sakellaropoulou, for “decisive contribution to the strategic promotion of Greek-Indian friendship in areas of mutual interest”, according to a statement by the Ministry of External Affairs.
He is the first foreign head of government to receive the honour which is awarded to “prime ministers and eminent personalities who by reason of their distinguished position, have contributed to enhancing the stature of Greece”.
In Athens, PM Modi also paid tribute at the ‘Tomb of the Unknown Soldier’, a monument dedicated to Greek soldiers killed in various wars since World War I. He was then accorded a ceremonial Guard of Honour.
PM Modi also interacted with members of the Indian diaspora.
(Edited by Sunanda Ranjan)
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