External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar has reached Athens on Friday. He held a productive informal discussion on regional and global issues with his Greek counterpart Nikos Dendias. Along with this, he will participate in ministerial-level meetings. This visit of the EAM is quite historic, as it is the first visit by an Indian foreign minister since 2003. Jaishankar is on a two-nation visit to Greece and Italy.
Meanwhile, Jaishankar tweeted, "Thank FM @NikosDendias for a warm welcome to Greece. A productive discussion on regional and global issues. Greece is an important partner in our broader EU engagement. Look forward to our formal talks tomorrow."
According to the Foreign Ministry, Jaishankar will also visit Italy along with Greece. In Greece, he would make a bilateral visit on June 25 and 26 for talks with his Greek counterpart apart from other engagements. After Greece, he will travel to Italy to attend G20 ministerial meetings. The G20 summit is scheduled to be held in Italy in October. India is likely to hold the presidency of the G20 in 2022.
Let us tell you that there have been regular and high-level exchanges between the two countries. Talking about high-level visits, the President of India visited Greece in 2007, which was the last state visit from India. On the other hand, the Greek Prime Minister visited India in 2008 and the Greek PM George Papandreou visited India in 2010 for the Delhi Sustainable Development Summit. In the year 2017, the Foreign Minister of Greece visited India. Both countries are fully committed to democracy, law and pluralism. The bilateral trade between both partners is around $530 million.