Greece: PM Narendra Modi Lays a Wreath at Tomb of Unknown Soldier in Athens, Receives Guard of Honour

GG News Bureau

Athens, 25th Aug. Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Athens on Friday to start off a daylong official visit to Greece.

Following the wreath-laying ceremony, Prime Minister Modi also received a guard of honour.

PM Modi arrived in Greece on Friday for his first visit at the invitation of his Greek counterpart, Kyriakos Mitsotakis. PM Modi was received at Athens International Airport by Greek Foreign Minister George Gerapetritis.

When he arrived at the Hotel Grande Bretagne, the Indian community gathering there greeted him with chants of ‘Bharat Mata ki Jai,’ ‘Modi, Modi,’ and ‘Modi, Modi.’

Members of the Indian community were seen waving the tricolor and beating drums to mark PM Modi’s visit, the first by an Indian Prime Minister in almost 40 years.

At the hotel, PM Modi interacted with children and their parents. A little girl offered PM Modi a Greek headdress and she also briefly interacted with him showing him a painting she had prepared. The young girl also took a selfie with the Prime Minister.

PM Modi is the first Indian Prime Minister in the last 40 years to visit Greece. The last Prime Ministerial visit from India to Greece was in 1983. Greece Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis had visited New Delhi in 2019.

PM Modi will meet his Greek counterpart Kyriakos Mitsotakis and the leaders will discuss ways to further deepen the ties between the two nations. He will also interact with business leaders from both countries. He will also have an interaction with the Indian community in Greece.

Prime Minister Modi had met the Greek Prime Minister in New York last in September 2019 on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly.

India and Greece enjoy civilizational ties, which have strengthened in recent years through cooperation in areas like maritime transport, defence, trade and investments and people-to-people ties.