Prime Minister Narendra Modi was greeted with chants of ‘Bharat Mata ki Jai,’ ‘Modi, Modi’ on his arrival at Hotel Grande Bretagne.
After landing at the Athens International Airport, PM Modi reached his hotel where he will be staying for his one-day visit and met the Indian expatriate who was eagerly awaiting his arrival.
Outside the hotel, Indian expatriates were waving the tricolor and some of them were also beating drums to mark the visit of PM Modi, who is the first Indian prime minister to visit the country in the last 40 years.
The Indian community expressed happiness on PM Modi’s arrival in Athens, Greece. One of the Indian diaspora members said, “I am very happy that PM Modi is here. PM came after 40 years. The last time the then PM Indira Gandhi reached Greece. Narendra Modi is the PM for the last 9 years.” And he illuminated the good name of India in the world. I am very proud that PM Modi came.
Meanwhile, businessman Sanjeev Kumar, who has been living in Greece for the last 26 years, said, “It was a great moment for us that PM Modi reached Athens. It is a great pleasure for us. We have a good name in the Greek community.” ‘Indians’, always a good name for us. We feel great. People love him.”
In the hotel, PM Modi interacted with the children and their parents. A little girl offered a Greek headdress to PM Modi and also interacted with him while showing him a painting made by him. The girl also took a selfie with the Prime Minister.
Earlier today, the Prime Minister arrived in Athens and was received by Greek Foreign Minister George Gerapateritis. PM Modi was also given a grand welcome. His visit to Athens followed his visit to Johannesburg, where he was attending the BRICS summit.
PM Modi on his micro-blogging site X (formerly known as Twitter).
Official spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs Arindam Bagchi also posted a video on X, “Prime Minister Narendra Modi has arrived here from Johannesburg after attending the 15th BRICS Summit.”
Bagchi said, “A busy day of engagements is ahead in Athens. He will lay a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier shortly after. After that, he will meet the President of Greece and then hold talks with the Prime Minister of Greece.”
“He will also meet business leaders from both sides. Before departure, he will interact with the community which is excited to welcome him after the success of Chandrayaan mission,” he added.
A business lunch hosted by the Greek PM is also scheduled during the visit. The Prime Minister will also interact with the Indian diaspora in Greece.
Previous high-level exchanges between the two countries also include the visits of former President of India Late APJ Abdul Kalam and former President Ram Nath Kovind in June 2018.
The Greek President also paid a state visit to India in 1998 and the then Greek Prime Minister visited India in 2008.
(Only the headline and image of this report may have been reworked by Business Standard staff; the rest of the content was auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)