India-Greece

Greece Ambassador to India Dimitrios Ioannou has said as "natural allies" he was looking forward to bringing the cultures of his country and India's, "both ancient civilisations", nearer. Ioannou, who was talking to PTI on the sidelines of an exhibition of artefacts at the office of Administrator General and Official Trustee of West Bengal in New Secretariat building here, said he could discern Greek influence in some of the statuettes on display and vice-versa. "There is a two way street - we call it Greek Indian art - I hope such exhibitions will rekindle public interest in both countries to explore, to bring to the knowledge of everyone about this ancient heritage link which is somewhat forgotten. "Such exhibitions will strengthen ties between India and Greece, because there are too many things which are common between us," he said. Among the exhibits were statuettes of Gautam Buddha, yakhsis, Hindu gods and goddesses and mythological figures, on which the influence of the Gandh

The move by Greek Embassy to hire more staff comes in the wake of several complaints by travel agents and tourists

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar met his Greek counterpart Nikos Dendias, with whom he had a productive discussion on regional and global issues

It will be the first visit to Greece at the level of the external affairs minister since 2003.

In a tweet, Jaishankar said the agenda of talks included respective regional situations

Once inked, it would be the first such ASA with Greece, which is known for its tourist spots and scenic beauty