Narendra Modi

A strange, grand and completely disparate "alliance" is challenging the hegemony of the West and the world system created after World War II. China, Russia, Iran, India, Turkey and some Latin American states are some of the very important countries participating in the "Global South" alliance.

This year's G20 Summit, being held under the main theme of "One Earth, One Family, One Future," has kicked off on Sept. 9 with the official welcoming ceremony also attended by President Erdoğan.

The G20 leaders participating in the summit were welcomed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India at the Bharat Mandapam convention center. 

Major roads in New Delhi are teeming with giant posters and billboards announcing India's presidency of this week's summit of the Group of 20 nations. And one leader's picture — smiling benignly from every traffic circle — stands out from the rest: Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The recent visit of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Athens opens a new chapter in bilateral relations which have been least-favoured for decades. Despite vast class inequalities and widespread poverty, India has emerged as a major power in the Indo-Pacific region.

US President Joe Biden on Sunday expressed disappointment that Chinese leader Xi Jinping would not attend the G20 summit in India this week, as Washington seeks to repair relations with Beijing.

Asked about Xi reportedly not planning to join the gathering in New Delhi, Biden told reporters, "I am disappointed, but I am going to get to see him," without elaborating.

The head of the Piraeus Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Vassilis Korkidis, on Monday welcomed India's interest in Greek ports following the meetings between business delegations in Athens last week.

It took 40 years for an Indian prime minister to visit Athens, since Indira Gandhi came to Greece in September 1983. Narendra Modi represents a very different country today compared to what India was in the 1980s. It is now an emerging, rapidly developing superpower, which aspires to lead the countries of the Global South in a multipolar world. 

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.

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.