Prime Minister of Greece, Kyriakos Mitsotakis was accorded a ceremonial guard of honour on Wednesday during his two-day visit to India. Mitsotakis — who was accompanied by his wife, Mareva Grabowski-Mitsotakis — was given the ceremonial guard of honour at the forecourt of the Rashtrapati Bhavan, where they were received by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Following the ceremonial guard of honour, the Greek Prime Minister spoke about the strategic partnership between his country and India. He said that he was looking forward to the bilateral discussions with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
"It is a privilege to be in India on an official state visit, reciprocating the visit of the Prime Minister to Greece a few months ago. For Greece, the strategic partnership between our two countries is of particular importance and we will have the opportunity to discuss a wide range of topics, political consultations, and strategic partnership, but also fostering our economic lives between our two economies. So it's a real privilege to be here and I'm really looking forward to the discussions we will have as the Prime Minister," Mitsitakis was quoted as saying by ANI.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Greek counterpart held bilateral discussions and PM Modi is also scheduled to host a lunch banquet in honour of the visiting dignitary.
Earlier in the day, the Greek PM also visited Raj Ghat and paid tribute to Mahatma Gandhi.
On Wednesday, Minister of External Affairs, S Jaishankar called on the Greek Prime Minister. "Valued his commitment to enhancing India-Greece ties. Look forward to the strengthening of our strategic partnership," Jaishankar said in a post on X.
Mitsotakis arrived in the national capital late on Tuesday and was welcomed at the airport by Union Minister of State for External Affairs Meenakshi Lekhi. The Greek PM will be the Chief Guest and Keynote Speaker at the three-day Raisina Dialogue 2024, which commences on Wednesday.
Notably, this is the first bilateral Head of State or Head of Government level visit from Greece to India after 15 years, the last Prime Ministerial visit from Greece to India took place in 2008. PM Modi visited Athens on August 25, 2023.
India-Greece relations have been elevated to 'Strategic Partnership' during PM Modi's visit to Greece in August 2023. Mitsotakis is also scheduled to visit Mumbai before returning to Athens.