India, Greece to elevate ties to strategic partnership level, says PM Modi

New Delhi, Aug 25 (IANS) India and Greece on Friday decided to elevate their relationship to a ‘strategic partnership’, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said during the joint press conference with his Greek counterpart Kyriakos Mitsotakis.

This Greece visit is a very special one. It will add great momentum to India-Greece friendship, particularly people-to-people linkages. I also had a very memorable interaction with the dynamic Indian community here. Gratitude to PM @PrimeministerGR @kmitsotakis, the Government…

— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) August 25, 2023

Glimpses from the excellent community programme in Athens. pic.twitter.com/tw1Doy8Dkq

— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) August 25, 2023

Modi said that Mitsotakis and he agreed that the bilateral trade is rapidly growing and has immense potential for further growth.

"Therefore, we have set a target to double our bilateral trade by the year 2030," the Prime Minister said during the joint briefing.

Modi said that in the field of defence and security, it was decided to give a boost to defence industries, along with military ties.

"Today we also discussed the topics of terrorism and cyber security. We decided that even at the level of our national security advisors, there should be an institutional platform for dialogue," he said.

"We believe that by encouraging trade and investment between our countries we can take our industrial and economic cooperation to a new level. We have decided to enter into a migration and mobility partnership agreement soon, in order to facilitate skilled migration between the two countries," the Modi said.

Modi said that the Greece has expressed its support for the India-EU trade and investment agreement.

He said that both the countries support diplomacy and dialogue in the case of Ukraine.

"I thank Greece for its cooperation in the United Nations and other international forums. For conferring on me the Grand Cross of the Order of Honour today, I sincerely thank the people of the Hellenic Republic and the president. I accepted the award on behalf of 140 crore Indians and expressed my gratitude," Modi said.