What is Modi doing in Athens? Mitsotakis goals and a “strategic relationship”

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is making an official visit to Greece today, which may have an immediate tangible effect according to informed sources. Mr Modi after 10 am will lay a wreath at the Monument to the Unknown Soldier, then meet with the President of the Republic Katerina Sakellaropoulou and at 11:00 he will have a meeting  with Kyriakos Mitsotakis at Maximos Mansion. The Greek-Indian “menu” envisages extended talks, as well as a working lunch in a central hotel between representatives of Indian institutions and businesses and Greek companies. The said business-economic meeting is expected to be opened with a greeting by the two leaders.

The Indian arrivals are on… two different planes: one from New Delhi with the business mission and the other from Johannesburg, as Modi and Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar come directly from South Africa where they attended the BRICS summit . The last visit by an Indian leader to Greece was in 1983 – by Prime Minister Indira Gandhi at the time – and the two sides now appear to be seeking to put a closer, strategic partnership on track.

The pivotal role of Piraeus

After Brexit, India is considering alternative routes for the export of its products and its eyes fall on Piraeus and the prospect of the largest Greek port gaining a pivotal role. After all, Athens promotes its maritime infrastructure on the other side, as India’s “gateway” to Europe, while overall the Greek government’s message is that the Mediterranean is an area of immense importance, acting as a crossroads of Europe, Asia and Africa.

And Greece as a member state of the European Union and NATO “can take the lead in promoting synergies in Southeast Europe and the Mediterranean,” according to what Foreign Minister Giorgos Gerapetritis told the English-language Indian news network WION. The aim of the Greek-Indian consultations is to widen the scope for cooperation by defining (today) the starting point that will lead to “strategic cooperation”.

For Greece, the geopolitical dimension of India’s approach is of decisive importance and it is no coincidence that in the last four years military diplomacy between the two countries has been upgraded. “We share common values and have a common interest in promoting respect for international law,” say diplomatic sources meaningfully.

Economy and defense

In addition, India is the fifth largest economy in the world (and the most populous country) and the consolidation of bilateral cooperation in specific areas is essentially sought. After all, the efforts have already been unfolding since 2019 when India was an honored country at the Thessaloniki International Exhibition.

What Athens is “chasing” are synergies and large Indian investments in at least five sectors: infrastructure (ports and airports), renewable sources (ie green energy), high technology (artificial intelligence, IT, etc.), tourism (India has an annual outbound tourism of 40 million high-income people, as Greek officials comment) and health.

Government sources confirm that opportunities for both Greek and Indian businesses in investments and partnerships are being explored at today’s lunch. The same table also hosts Indian representatives of organizations and businesses that have either invested in, or are “looking” at Greece with interest and Greek companies that are active or are interested in penetrating India.

Two key persons

Among others, Sanjiv Puri is present from the Indian side. He is the president of the Confederation of Manufacturers – the Indian BSE that is – as well as a major “player” in the food industry. Also “present” is Srinivas Bomindala, chairman of the Indian GMR group (involved in the airport in Kastelli), a powerful airport developer.

Another area of cooperation between Athens and New Delhi is defense. There is already mutual participation of parts of the Armed Forces in military exercises conducted by the two countries and recently the leadership of the Defense Command Academy of the Indian Armed Forces was in Greece.