Greece-India eye doubling trade & defence collabs

Greece’s Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis arrived in India on February 21, marking the first bilateral visit by a Greek Head of State in 15 years. His presence at the Raisina Dialogue, where he joined as the Chief Guest alongside Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, underscores the deepening ties between the two nations. The Raisina Dialogue, now in its 9th edition, stands as India's foremost conference on geopolitics and geo-economics, attracting over 2,500 participants from around 115 countries. Against the backdrop of the theme “Chaturanga: Conflict, Contest, Cooperate, Create,” leaders, scholars, and experts convene to discuss pressing global issues and collaborative solutions.

During his address at the Dialogue, Prime Minister Mitsotakis highlighted the dynamic economic growth of India, juxtaposing it with Greece's own rapid development in Europe. He emphasised the substantial Greek investments in India across diverse sectors such as maritime, logistics, and food processing. Additionally, Mitsotakis lauded India's contributions to Greek infrastructure development, spotlighting the involvement of Indian infrastructure conglomerate GMR in managing Greece's new international airport in Heraklion. Moreover, extensive bilateral discussions between Indian and Greek leaders underscored commitments to enhancing cooperation in various domains, including defence, counterterrorism, cybersecurity, and maritime affairs, with the aim to double bilateral trade by 2030, building upon the Strategic Partnership forged during Prime Minister Modi's visit to Greece in 2023. With the IMEC corridor under development, building on common principles of democracy, peace, and development and the maritime cooperation through India’s initiatives like the Indo-Pacific Oceans Initiative, Greece and India are emerging as stronger partners