Greece has 24 Rafale fighter jets that India has two squadrons of and is working towards acquiring another 114. Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, speaking exclusively to TIMES NOW, spoke of closer cooperation in defence and counterterrorism. "We share some common platforms. Both India and Greece (a member of NATO, the military alliance led by the United States of America) fly the French Rafale plane, so there is potential to further strengthen our ties when it comes to exercises and also to bring together our defence industries. Greece should be a prime destination for Indian companies looking to establish a manufacturing presence in Europe," the PM said.
Speaking on terrorism, he said Greece and India have "very strong cooperation when it comes to intelligence and security issues and as a country that has suffered from domestic terrorism, we are particularly sensitive to this topic and we will always stand hand in hand with those countries" that are "fighting and eradicating terrorism."
European countries, in the wake of the Russia-Ukraine war, the Greek Prime Minister said, were "spending significantly more on defence. The invasion of Ukraine was a rude awakening. Greece is a country that has always spent 2 percent of its GDP on defence. We are ahead of the curve but as new technologies are emerging we are looking for cost-effective solutions to address our new defence challenges. I believe that this is an area where we can build up significant ties (with India)." Greece, he added, should be a "prime destination for Indian companies looking to establish a manufacturing presence in Europe."
The Greek and Indian navies have worked together and, acknowledging that, Prime Minister Mitsotakis mentioned that his country was a "leading shipping nation," while India was keen on building up its shipping industry. "So protecting freedom of navigation is a joint critical priority when you look at the routes the ships have to take to reach Greece from India and from India to Greece," pointing out that they have to go through "some treacherous areas" and it was important to "defend international law and in particular the international law of the seas." Of course, "freedom of navigation" is a "joint priority," he added.
India-Middle East-Economic Corridor
The India-Middle East-Economic Corridor or IMEEC is a major priority for the Greeks. He said IMEEC will come up when he meets Prime Minister Narendra Modi and added that he "hoped that we will see even more Indian investment in Greek infrastructure, like investment in our ports," with Greece being a "natural entry point" to southeastern, central and eastern Europe. There was a need for digital infrastructure, he added. "Greece is already building a new digital cable that will connect Greece to Saudi Arabia and the natural extension of that cable will be to Southeast Asia and of course it will also branch out to India. Some of these IMEEC projects are already materialising and Greece and India are at the forefront."
"Human mobility" is another area of convergence between Greece and India. "We are in the process of negotiating a bilateral mobility agreement with India. When I came to power six and a half years ago, unemployment was at 18 percent. Now, it's dipping under 8 percent, which means that the labour market is tightening and that we have a requirement for labour. As we become tougher with illegal migration — we will protect our borders — we will be generous when it comes to legal migration and organised mobility agreements, whether we are talking about tech workers coming to Greece through tech visas which we are in the process of establishing, or whether we are talking of agricultural workers who come to Greece to support our agriculture." Speaking about construction workers, he added there were many Indian firms in Greece and they have the "know-how" to attract Indian workers and bring them to Greece. "I am a big believer in these types of mobility agreements and hopefully, we will sign one with India very soon as this is a topic I will discuss with Prime Minister Modi."
The India-Greek relationship, Prime Minister Mitsotakis said, was growing. Currently, he said, "we're scratching the surface of what could be a very, very substantial, and not just economic, but geopolitical and cultural relationship between the two countries." He has been to India twice and Prime Minister Modi has already been to Greece. "Prime Minister Modi has an open invitation to come to Athens. He enjoyed his trip two years ago." He added that the Greeks would want Modi to come back and he would bring up the subject when they met. "Building a relationship based on trust is always helpful," he said.
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The writer is national affairs editor, Times Now
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