India should be key to EU foreign policy: Greek PM

Strengthening the partnership with India should be a cornerstone of the European Union's (EU) foreign policy since the country is seen as a consensus builder and as a voice of reason in an increasingly polarised world, Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said on Wednesday.

Mitsotakis, who was delivering the keynote address as the chief guest at this year's edition of the Raisina Dialogue, challenged the Global South's perception of Russia's invasion of Ukraine as a European war by saying that it represents a "brutal challenge" to the international rules-based order that India has supported.

Addressing an audience that included Prime Minister Narendra Modi, external affairs minister S Jaishankar and ministers and diplomats from across the world, Mitsotakis pitched for closer ties between his country and India. Greece, uniquely placed between the Mediterranean Sea and the Indo-Pacific, can serve as India's "natural doorstep to Europe" through the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC), he said.

Referring to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen's remarks at the Raisina. Dialogue two years ago about the priority given by EU to strengthening the partnership with India, Mitsotakis said: "Strengthening our partnership with India....should be a cornerstone of Europe's foreign policy, and this certainly true for my country."

Greece, which has been a corridor for the exchange of goods and knowledge since ancient times, has excellent relations with Gulf countries and is uniquely placed between the Mediterranean Sea and the Indo-Pacific, can act as an interlocutor between India and Europe, he said. In this context, he pointed to Greece's efforts to privatise more ports and Greek ship owners controlling the world's largest merchant marine fleet.