NEWS & EVENTS OFFICIAL VISITS 

Visit of Smt. Meenakashi Lekhi, Minister of State for External Affairs and Culture, to Greece (January 30-31, 2023)

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Minister of State for External Affairs and Culture (MoS) Smt. Meenakashi Lekhi is on an official visit to Greece from 30 to 31 January 2023.

January 30, 2023
Smt. Lekhi arrived at the Athens International airport on Monday where she was welcomed by  Charge d’ Affaires a.i. of India to Greece Sri. S. Rajendran and senior officials of the Indian Embassy.

As her visit coincided with the commemoration of the 75th anniversary of the death of Mahatma Gandhi, she visited his statue, which is located in front of the Indian Embassy, and paid floral tributes.

Afterwards, she had a productive luncheon meeting with Prof. Emer. John Chrysoulakis, General Secretary for Greeks Abroad & Public Diplomacy and his team, with whom she shared new ideas for further strengthening India-Greece relations.

In the afternoon, she participated in a special Yoga event as part of the ‘Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav’ celebrations.

Later, she attended along with Greek Minister of Foreign Affairs Mr. Nikos Dendias and other dignitaries the presentation of the book “Indian Music” by Konstantinos Kalaitzis in a Greek-Indian Friendship event that was organised by the General Secretariat for Greeks Abroad & Public Diplomacy at the Athens Conservatoire.

General Secretary for Greeks Abroad and Public Diplomacy Prof. Emer. John Chrysoulakis offers copies of the book by Konstantinos Kalaitzis to Foreign Minister Mr. Nikos Dendias, to State Minister of Foreign Affairs of India Ms. Meenakashi Lekhi and to the founding members of WICCI.GR

On the margins of the event, the two ministers had a fruitful discussion focused on further strengthening the rapidly developing Greek-Indian relations in many areas, including economy & culture and topics related to migration & mobility.

Mr. S. Rajedran, Charge d’ Affaires a.i. of India to Greece, hosted a reception in honor of the Hon’ble Minister of State in a central hotel in Athens which was attended by Prof. Emer. John Chrysoulakis, Former Ambassador to India Mr. Ioannis Zepos, Indologist Prof. and President of ELINEPA Dr. Dimitrios Vassiliadis, Bharat Natyam teacher and Founder of Santom Cultural Center Ms. Lyda Santala, Prof. Pavlos Kavouras, musician Kostantinos Kalaitzis, Director of the Museum of Greek Musical Instruments “Phoebos Anogiannakis” Ms. Vasiliki Polyzoi, art historian Ms. Ntina Anastasiadou, BoD Public Relations of the Greek-Indian Business Association Mr. James Mimikos, film producers Viky Merkati and Narender Kumar Bati, eminent members of the Indian Community in Greece and several other diplomats and friends of India.

MoS Smt. Lekhi with guests at the Indian Reception
MoS Smt. Lekhi with guests at the Indian Reception

31 January 2023

During the second day of her visit to Greece, the Indian State Minister of External Affairs and Culture Ms. Meenakashi Lekhi had a series of fruitful meetings with ministers and members of the Greek government with whom he discussed matters of mutual interest for further development of friendly relations between the two countries.

The persons she met with were the Deputy Prime Minister Mr. Panagiotis Pikrammenos, the Minister of Culture and Sports Ms. Lina Mendoni and the Deputy Minister responsible for Hellenism Abroad Mr. Andreas Katsaniotis. The comments and photos posted by the Indian minister of state on her Twitter account are listed below.

MoS’s visit to Greece is expected to further strengthen the long-standing, warm and friendly relations between the two countries and provide an opportunity to further explore new avenues of cooperation.

This is Smt. Meenakashi Lekhi’s second major interaction with the Greeks, as she was previously the Chief guest at the International Indo-Greek Conference that was organized at the Jawaharlal Nehru University in New Delhi last December, where she interacted with Greek scholars and expressed an interest in promoting bilateral research in music, languages and culture.

Cover photo: MoS Smt. Meenakashi Lekhi with GS for Greeks Abroad and Public Diplomacy Prof. Emer. John Chrysoulakis exchanged gifts with the view of the Acropolis.