Greek General Given Guard of Honour on Trip to India

Greek General Dimitrios Choupis, Chief of the Hellenic National Defence General Staff, met with various navy officials in India today. The two nations signed the Landmark Military Cooperation Programme 224 Agreement, and the general received the Guard of Honour at South Block Lawns in Delhi.

Gen Dimitrios Choupis, Chief of the Hellenic National Defence General Staff #Greece on a visit to #India, met with Adm R Hari Kumar, #CNS on #08Apr 24. Discussions covered measures to further enhance Navy to Navy cooperation & collaborative efforts towards ensuring peace,… pic.twitter.com/ICpyhHWRKY

— SpokespersonNavy (@indiannavy) April 8, 2024

Greek General Dimitrios Choupis’s visit to India

General Choupis met Admiral Radhakrishnan Hari Kumar, Chief of the Naval Staff of India, to discuss measures to further enhance navy-to-navy cooperation and collaborative efforts towards ensuring peace, stability, and maritime security.

Additionally, the Greek general held talks with General Anil Chauhan, Chief of Defence Staff for the Indian Navy. During their meeting, they touched on the advancement of bilateral cooperation in areas of mutual interest, joint training, information sharing, and the increasing of defense collaboration, including production.

General Anil Chauhan, #CDS_India interacts with General Dimitrios Choupis, Chief of Hellenic National Defence General Staff, Greece.
Discussions held on furthering #bilateralcooperation on areas of mutual interest, #jointtraining, info sharing, & further strengthen… pic.twitter.com/QLLImMohvY

— HQ IDS (@HQ_IDS_India) April 8, 2024

While in India, General Choupis was greeted by Greece’s Ambassador to India Aliki Koutsomitopoulou, who was “delighted to welcome the chief,” as reported by the official account of the Embassy of Greece in India. The military man also laid a wreath at the National War Memorial in Delhi and paid respects to fallen soldiers.

Chief of the Hellenic National Defence General Staff Gen Dimitrios Choupis, today laid a wreath and paid homage to Bravehearts at the #NationalWarMemorial, New Delhi. @rajnathsingh @giridhararamane@HQ_IDS_India@adgpi@salute2soldier@Hellenic_MOD@EmbIndiaAthens@hndgspio pic.twitter.com/Eh5TyVlECn

— A. Bharat Bhushan Babu (@SpokespersonMoD) April 8, 2024

In February, Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis arrived in Delhi for a two-day state visit to India. He was accompanied by his wife, Mareva Grabowski-Mitsotakis. Mitsotakis held a meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and agreed to boost cooperation between the two nations in the shipping, connectivity, and defense sectors.

Modi posted on X at the time:

“Had a productive meeting with PM Mitsotakis earlier today. Our talks covered key areas like technology, pharmaceuticals, skill development, space and innovation. We also agreed to boost cooperation in areas like shipping, connectivity and defence.”

During his visit to the country, Mitsotakis also met External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar. Notably, this was the first bilateral head of state or head of government-level visit from Greece to India within the last fifteen years. Before that, the last prime ministerial visit from Greece to India was in 2008.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Athens in August last year, and relations between India and Greece were elevated to a strategic partnership during his visit, according to the Ministry of External Affairs.

While in India, in a speech in Mumbai, Mitsotakis highlighted investment opportunities now offered by Greece to India. In addressing the Greek-Indian business forum held on the last day of his two-day visit to India, Mitsotakis assured Indian businesspersons and entrepreneurs that “the Greece they remember, the Greece of the financial crisis, the Greece that made the headlines for all the wrong reasons, no longer exists.”