China’s ‘Ally’ Greece, India Converge Over The Vision Of Free And Open Indo-Pacific

Chinese ally Greece has extended support to India towards a free, open, inclusive and cooperative Indo-Pacific that will ensure connectivity and growth for the region amidst India’s External Affairs Minister (EAM) Dr S Jaishankar’s visit to the European country to hold bilateral talks with his Greek counterpart Nikon Dendias.

Actually, Greece has been a vital cog in China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) in Europe as Chinese shipping firm Cosco had acquired a majority stake in Piraeus, which is strategically positioned between Asia and Europe, in 2016, Times of India reports.

Meanwhile, Dendias submitted an agreement to Dr Jaishankar confirming Greece becoming an official signatory to the International Solar Alliance (ISA) as the two countries reiterated assistance in attaining their respective energy goals in order to make renewable energy an important part of the energy supply.

The EAM also met Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitostakis to offer greetings on the backdrop the European country’s 200th year of independence.

Further discussions were held on issues such as trade and investment in addition to the existing cooperation in the areas of culture, technology and also academics.

The necessity of India and Greece building a strategic partnership stems from the former’s intention of resuming negotiations on a free trade agreement (FTA) with Europe of which all European countries would be a signatory of.