Prime Minister Narendra Modi was awarded the Grand Cross of the Order of Honor by Greek President Katerina N. Sakellaropoulou in Athens on Friday. PM Modi thanked the people of Greece and the country’s government for showing “respect the people of Greece have towards India”.

“I thank President Katerina Sakellaropoulou, the Government and the people of Greece for conferring upon me The Grand Cross of the Order of Honour, This shows the respect the people of Greece have towards India,” PM Modi tweeted.

“A special honour reflecting the strength of the India-Greece partnership. PM @narendramodi conferred with Grand Cross of the Order of Honour by @PresidencyGR Katerina N. Sakellaropoulou,” spokesperson of Ministry of External Affairs, Arindam Bagchi Said on social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter.

According to a report earlier Prime Minister Modi held delegation-level talks with his Greek counterpart Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis. Addressing a press meeting, the Prime Minister said, “Greece and India are a natural match between two ancient civilizations of the world.”

Greece and India strengthen our strategic partnership

PM Modi said, “After a long gap of 40 years, an Indian Prime Minister has come to Greece. Still, the depth and warmth of our relations have not decreased. So, the (Greek) PM and I have decided to take India-Greece relations to a strategic level. We have decided to increase our cooperation in the areas of defence and security, infrastructure, agriculture, education, new and emerging technology and skill development and strengthen our strategic partnership.”

Greece

“In the area of defence and security, we have agreed to empower military relations as well as the defence industry. Today, we held discussions over cooperation in the area of terrorism and cyber security. We have decided that there should also be an NSA-level dialogue platform. PM and I agree that our bilateral trade is increasing rapidly and there is immense potential for an increase in the time ahead too. So, we have decided to double our bilateral trade by 2030,” it added.

The Greek president also congratulated PM Modi on the success of India’s moon mission Chandrayaan-3.

In response to her message, PM Modi said, “The success of Chandrayaan-3 is not only of India alone it is a success for the world of humankind. The results of the data collected by the Chandrayaan-3 mission will help the entire scientific fraternity and humankind.”

PM Modi, who is on a one-day official visit to, arrived in Athens on Friday From South Africa where he attended the 15th BRICS Summit and held bilateral meetings with several world leaders to further cement India’s relations with those countries.

The Order of Honour was established in 1975 and is the second-highest civilian honour in Greece.

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