Greek PM Mitsotakis and Indian PM Modi set ambitious trade goals in historic meeting

Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis’ visit to India focuses on boosting bilateral trade and strengthening economic and cultural ties

Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis’ arrived in India on Tuesday to make the first visit by a Greek head of state in over a decade.

After fruitful discussions in New Delhi, the focus shifted to Mumbai, India’s financial hub and home of Bollywood, where Mitsotakis continued to strengthen economic ties.

The Greek delegation in Mumbai, led by Deputy Foreign Minister Kostas Fragkogiannis, participated in a forum organized by the Confederation of Indian Industry. Mitsotakis invited Indian businesses to invest in Greece and explore collaborations with Greek companies.

The warm reception and extended talks in New Delhi with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi set the tone for the visit. Both leaders agreed to aim for doubling bilateral trade by 2030 and boost overall economic relations through potential investments and partnerships across various sectors.

“We held discussions on finalizing the mobility and migration partnership agreement as soon as possible. This will help embolden our people-to-people partnership,” PM Modi said in a press conference following their conversation.

Mitsotakis also stated that he’s sure the two countries “will finalize very quickly a very important agreement on migration and mobility.”

Additionally, “It’s a matter of happiness” that India and Greece “are heading towards doubling the bilateral trade by 2030,” PM Modi said.

The visit also saw the signing of key memorandums of cooperation, including one between Eurolife FFH and LTIMindtree for establishing a pioneering Gen AI and Digital Hub in Athens and another between Eurobank and the National Payments Corporation of India to facilitate direct transactions between Greece and India.

During his speech at the Raisina Dialogue in New Delhi, Mitsotakis emphasized Greece’s role as India’s ‘natural threshold’ to Europe. He encouraged Indian enterprises to join Greece in its economic journey, highlighting the significant prospects for cooperation, particularly through the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC).

The discussions also covered cooperation in defense, security, and cybersecurity and addressed issues like trafficking through collaborative efforts in migration. The agenda included high technology, digitization, startups, infrastructure, logistics, defense, education, culture, and addressing labor shortages in Greece through a bilateral mobility agreement.

Source: Newsroom