President Ram Nath Kovind on Monday met his Greek counterpart Prokopis Pavlopoulos on his state visit and highlighted India's commitment to expand and diversify trade and investment engagement between the two nations.

During his meeting with the Greek President and the delegation level talks, President Kovind emphasized the age-old civilizational ties between the two nations.

He said that India and Greece shared values of democracy, rule of law and multi-cultural ethos, and these have added depth to our bilateral and multilateral engagements.

The President expressed that India was keen to deepen the ongoing co-operation with Greece especially in political and economic fields.

Kovind highlighted India’s commitment to promote trade and investment engagement between the two nations.

He stated that bilateral trade between the two countries of US dollar 530 million was below potential and more efforts must be made to expand and diversify trade between the two countries.

He informed the Greek delegation that India had accepted the invitation to participate in the prestigious Thessaloniki International Fair, 2019 as the “Honoured Country”.

Kovind also apprised the Greek delegation of the steps taken by India to improve business climate in the country and said that India wished to collaborate with the Greek companies to become partners in the growth story of India.

In particular, India could benefit from expertise of Greece in areas such as Shipping, Food and Dairy, and Tourism.

On the other hand Indian companies especially in the areas of pharma, IT, agriculture, real estate, infrastructure and start-ups are keen to establish presence in Greece.

India also thanked Greece for its support for India’s candidature for a non-permanent seat in the UN Security Council and for membership to the Nuclear Suppliers Group.

On the subject of India-Greece cultural ties, the President said that as two ancient civilizations that have interacted with each other for centuries, the two sides have a deep cultural understanding of each other.

He also said that the two countries should work together to develop Greek and Indian traditional medicinal practices as healthcare options for people.