New Delhi, Athens deepen defence and economic ties as India’s ambassador meets Greece air force chief
India and Greece review ongoing Air Force cooperation. Image:X/@EmbIndiaAthens
New Delhi: India’s ambassador to Greece, Ravi Shankar, met Lieutenant General Demosthenes Grigoriadis, chief of the Hellenic Air Force General Staff, to review ongoing cooperation between the Indian Air Force and the Hellenic Air Force. The discussion centred on expanding military-to-military engagement, particularly through participation in each other’s multinational air exercises.
India has taken part in Iniochos, Greece’s premier multinational air-combat exercise held at Andravida airbase, since 2023, allowing IAF pilots to train alongside Nato and partner air forces. Greece, in turn, sent Hellenic Air Force F-16 jets to Tarang Shakti 2024, the IAF’s first edition of its largest multinational air exercise, marking Greece’s first-ever military exercise participation on Indian soil.
Officials say such exercises improve interoperability between the two air forces, allow the sharing of operational tactics, and build trust among military personnel from partner nations.
Separately, the ambassador met the mayor of West Mani, Giorgos Chioureas, to discuss economic cooperation, including employment opportunities for Indian workers in hospitality, construction and agriculture, along with plans to expand tourism between the two countries.
The meetings follow the ambassador’s formal presentation of his letter of credence to the president of Greece on July 16, marking the start of his tenure. During the ceremony, he reaffirmed India’s commitment to strengthening the strategic partnership between the two countries.
Ties between the two countries were elevated in August 2023, when the prime minister, Narendra Modi, visited Greece, becoming the first Indian prime minister to do so in four decades since Indira Gandhi’s visit in September 1983. That visit led to the announcement of the India-Greece Strategic Partnership, covering defence, maritime affairs, trade, energy, education and counterterrorism.
Modi and the Greek prime minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, also agreed at the time to double bilateral trade, then valued at about €1.32 billion, by 2030. They further agreed to pursue a mobility and migration agreement to facilitate legal migration for skilled Indian workers.
Although not among India’s largest trading partners, Greece holds strategic significance as a Nato and European Union member that controls key ports in the Eastern Mediterranean and operates one of the world’s largest merchant shipping fleets. For India, closer ties with Athens support broader European engagement and complement initiatives such as the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor.
Officials described this week’s exchanges as an extension of commitments made in 2023, rather than a new policy announcement, reflecting efforts by both countries to institutionalize defence cooperation through joint exercises while expanding economic ties in workforce mobility and tourism.
