Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday addressed the Indian diaspora at Athens Conservatoire. Speaking at the ceremony, PM Modi stated: “This is the month of Sawan, of Lord Shiva. In this holy month, the country has made a new achievement. India has become the first country to land in the dark zone, at the south pole (of the moon),” news agency ANI reported.
No matter where you are, your hearts are throbbing for India, PM Modi told the Indian diaspora in Greece.
Highlighting the successful Chandrayaan 3 mission, PM Modi stated: “By hoisting the Tiranga (on the moon), we have made the world aware of India’s capabilities. Congratulatory messages are pouring in from across the world…The social media is full of congratulatory messages. When the achievement is this big, its celebration also continues. Your faces say that wherever you might be in the world, India beats in your heart…I congratulate you once again on the grand success of Chandrayaan-3.”
#WATCH | Athens, Greece | PM Modi says, “By hoisting the Tiranga (on the moon), we have made the world aware of India’s capabilities. Congratulatory messages are pouring in from across the world…The social media is full of congratulatory messages. When the achievement is this… pic.twitter.com/RG9smEyPMB
— ANI (@ANI) August 25, 2023
Earlier today, Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Athens.
Following the wreath-laying ceremony, PM Modi was also given a guard of honour.
PM Modi arrived in Greece on Friday for his first visit at the request of his Greek colleague, Kyriakos Mitsotakis. PM Modi was met at Athens International Airport by Greek Foreign Minister George Gerapetritis.
When he arrived at the Hotel Grande Bretagne, the Indian community gathering there greeted him with cries of ‘Bharat Mata ki Jai,’ ‘Modi, Modi,’ and ‘Modi, Modi.’
Members of the Indian community were seen waving the tricolour and pounding drums to commemorate PM Modi’s visit, the first by an Indian Prime Minister in almost 40 years.
PM Modi chatted with youngsters and their parents at the hotel. A little girl presented PM Modi with a Greek headpiece and briefly talked with him, showing him a drawing she had created. The young lady also snapped a selfie with Prime Minister Modi.
PM Modi is the first Indian Prime Minister to visit Greece in the recent 40 years. India’s last Prime Ministerial visit to Greece was in 1983. Kyriakos Mitsotakis, Greece’s Prime Minister, visited New Delhi in 2019.
On the fringes of the United Nations General Assembly in September 2019, Prime Minister Modi met with Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras in New York.
India and Greece have civilizational links that have become stronger in recent years as a result of collaboration in sectors such as marine transport, defence, commerce and investment, and people-to-people ties.