NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that the visit of Greece Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis to India reflected the strengthening of the strategic partnership between the two countries. He stated that the growing cooperation in the defence and security sectors reflects deep mutual trust between the two nations.


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In a joint press statement after holding bilateral and delegation level talks here with his Greek counterpart, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that both countries have agreed to take their bilateral trade to two times by the year 2030. PM Modi said, "I am happy to welcome PM Kyriakos Mitsotakis and his delegation to India. After my visit to Greece last year, his visit to India is a symbol of the strengthening strategic partnership between the two countries. The visit of the Greek PM to India after 16 years is a historic occasion."


External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, Union Minister of State for External Affairs Meenakashi Lekhi, National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and Foreign Secretary Vinay Kwatra were among others who were present in the delegation level talks. Teming his discussions with Kyriakos Mitsotakis "meaningful and useful", PM Modi said that the two nations are rapidly heading towards doubling bilateral trade by 2030. He expressed happiness that India and Greece are taking steps to implement the agreements reached in this area in 2023.


PM Modi said new opportunities were explored during his meeting ranging from agriculture, pharma, medical devices, technologies, innovation, skill development, and space. PM Modi said, "Our discussions today were very meaningful and useful. It is a matter of happiness that we are rapidly heading towards doubling bilateral trade by 2030. We identified several new opportunities to give new energy and direction to our cooperation. There are many possibilities for closer cooperation between the two countries in the field of agriculture."


He added, "And I am pleased that both sides are taking steps to implement the agreements reached in this area last year. We emphasized on increasing cooperation in many areas like pharma, medical devices, technology, innovation, skill development, and space." He said shipping and connectivity are the highest priority areas and discussed increasing cooperation in these areas with the Greek PM. PM Modi noted that India and Greece have common concerns and priorities in the fight against terrorism.


PM Modi said, "We also discussed connecting the start-ups of both countries. Shipping and connectivity are topics of high priority for both the countries. We also discussed increasing cooperation in these areas." Announcing the formation of a Working Group between India and Greece for defence and security, he said, "The growing cooperation in defence and security reflects our deep mutual trust. With the formation of a Working Group in this area, we will be able to increase mutual coordination on common challenges like defence, cyber security, counter-terrorism, and maritime security."


He said, "New opportunities for co-production and co-development are being created in defence manufacturing in India, which can be beneficial for both the countries. We have agreed to connect the defence industries of both the countries. India and Greece have common concerns and priorities in the fight against terrorism. We discussed in detail how to further strengthen our cooperation in this area."


He noted that India and Greece have a long history of deep cultural and people-to-people ties. PM Modi stated that people of both nations have been exchanging trade and cultural ties as well as ideas. He said, "As two ancient and great civilizations, India and Greece have a long history of deep cultural and people-to-people ties. For almost two and a half thousand years, people of both the countries have been exchanging trade and cultural relations as well as ideas."


"Today we identified several new initiatives to give a modern form to these relations. We discussed concluding the Migration and Mobility Partnership Agreement between the two countries as soon as possible. This will further strengthen our people-to-people relations," PM Modi said. This is the first bilateral Head of State or Government level visit from Greece to India after 15 years. The last Prime Ministerial visit from Greece to India took place in 2008.