India

Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis welcomed his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi to the Maximos Mansion in Athens on Friday in a historic first visit by an Indian premier in 40 years, underlining the improvement in relations between the two countries that have been consistently cultivated in recent years.

Greece and India are bound by historic ties of friendship dating back thousands of years. As ancient civilizations, our peoples interacted with and influenced each other in a wide variety of fields.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi lays a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Athens, Friday. Modi's visit to Athens is especially significant for Greek foreign policy as it is the first official visit by an Indian prime minister to Greece in 40 years. [AP]

The visit of Narendra Modi to Athens Friday holds special significance for Greece's foreign policy, as it marks the first official visit by an Indian prime minister to Greece in four decades.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has touched down in Athens, commencing an official one-day journey that encompasses a meeting with Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis.

The visit of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Greece, the first by an Indian premier in 40 years, will include a business luncheon at a central Athens hotel on Friday.

Narendra Modi's visit to Athens on Friday is especially significant for Greek foreign policy as it is the first official visit by an Indian prime minister to Greece in 40 years. Indira Gandhi, then premier of India, visited Greece in 1983, at the invitation of her counterpart, Andreas Papandreou.

India began exploring the Moon's surface with a rover yesterday, a day after it became the first nation to land a craft near the largely unexplored lunar south pole.

Pragyan - "Wisdom" in Sanskrit - rolled out of the lander hours after the latest milestone in India's ambitious but cut-price space program sparked huge celebrations across the country.

Greece and India are systematically working to strengthen bilateral ties. The visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Athens on August 25 will be the culmination of diplomatic efforts of the last years. It was only 40 years ago when Indira Gandhi flew to Greece on the invitation of her counterpart, Andreas Papandreou.

Leaders of the BRICS group have invited Saudi Arabia, Iran, Ethiopia, Egypt, Argentina and the United Arab Emirates to join - a move aimed at increasing the influence of the bloc, which has vowed to defend the "global south", Reuters reported.