PM Modi’s strategic Greece visit: What it means for Turkey

Prime Minister Narendra Modi was on a one-day visit to Greece while returning from the BRICS summit held at Johannesburg, South Africa. This was the first visit by an Indian Prime Minister to Greece in the last 40 years, after the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi visited the nation in 1983. The two nations have decided to elevate their ties to strategic partnership. However, the question remains, why in 40 years, the Indian government now feels the necessity to strengthen ties with Greece. With the current geopolitical dynamics, it appears to be an effort to balance power. 

Ties between India and Greece make for a natural reunion: PM Modi

PM Modi, after holding talks with his Greek counterpart, PM Kyriakos Mitsotakis, highlighted that despite a gap of 40 years, the depth of relationship between the two nations remains the same. “Therefore, today the Prime Minister and I have decided to take the India-Greece partnership to a strategic level,” said PM Modi. 

The two nations have decided to double bilateral trade by 2030 and finalise a migration and mobility pact, while expanding cooperation in multiple fields which include defence and security, education, infrastructure and tourism, among others. 

The Greek PM said that the nation would be walking side by side with India in this period of international turmoil (Russia-Ukraine crisis). 

The basis of India-Greece partnership 

The India-Greece bilateral relationship has its roots in the constant support extended by Athens to New Delhi - be it supporting India’s position on Kashmir at the international forums or standing by New Delhi during the Nuclear Suppliers Group in 2008 or in 2016, Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR), Wassenaar arrangements.

Even after the 1998 nuclear tests conducted by India in Pokhran, Greece’s defence minister was the first from the NATO to visit India in December, 1998. India, too, has consistently supported Greece in its conflict over Cyprus with its neighbour Turkey. Both the countries have also pledged reciprocal support for election to the non-Permanent seat in UNSC.

Bilateral defence cooperation has also been in place since the '90s. Very recently, the Indian Air Force participated in a joint multinational air exercise called Iniochos 2023. This has raised serious concerns in Turkey. The Indian Navy has also held joint exercises with naval forces of Greece in July this year, in the Mediterranean and Aegean sea.

India looking beyond traditional allies 

While India and Greece did share a bilateral relationship, the ties were not at the forefront as it is today after PM Modi’s visit. The changing geopolitical dynamics and India’s emergence on the global stage as a decisive player has compelled New Delhi to look beyond its traditional allies like Russia and Iran. Two of the major instances to support this argument is India working on its relationship with Israel and Greece. Further, India moving forward with Armenia stands in deposition for the same. 

India has been supplying weapons to Armenia, thus, strengthening its defence against Azerbaijan, with which it has been locked into a conflict in the Nogorno-Kharabakh region. In July this year, India exported the Multi-Barrel Rocket Launcher System (MBRLS) Pinaka, designed and developed indigenously. Pinaka strengthens Armenia, given Azerbaijan’s constant use of drones. In addition to the Pinaka system, Armenia acquired four indigenous Swathi weapons-locating radars from India in 2020.

A challenge to Pakistan-Turkey-Azerbaijan trio 

India’s growing ties have evoked strong reactions from Azerbaijan. In January 2023, Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev had criticised India’s burgeoning military cooperation with Armenia calling it an unfriendly step. 

Turkey has been a traditional supporter of Azerbaijan and the latter has been using Turkish Bayrakhtar drones at its borders. Turkey and Azerbaijan refer to their relationship as one between “two states, one nation” and was the first nation to recognise Azerbaijan as an independent nation in 1991. On the other hand, Turkey has sealed its border with Armenia. 

Turkey has been a supporter of Pakistan’s stand on the Kashmir issue and has been arming and aiding Pakistan, as it did last year when Turkey gifted Pakistan a warship under strategic cooperation project. 

Pakistan, Azerbaijan and Turkey are in an informal arrangement where all three vow to support each other. While India’s defence trade with Armenia has already raised eyebrows, New Delhi elevating relationship with Athens may put Turkey in an uncomfortable position as it is locked in a decades-old conflict with Greece.