Greece Backs India’s Bid for Permanent UNSC Membership

Greece hopes to ally with India to play a specific role in stabilization of West Asia and also the eastern Mediterranean region as it is working on a policy for stabilization in the region, with the special focus on Egypt, Israel, and Jordan.

New Delhi — Nikos Kotzias, Greece's Minister of Foreign Affairs has expressed his country's full support to India's bid for a permanent membership of the United Nations Security Council, claiming that a new balance of power is emerging in the world. 

"We fully support India for the UN Council, but not other proposed countries," Nikos Kotzias said while delivering a special address on "Greece as a pillar of stability in South Eastern Europe and the Eastern Mediterranean", organized by the New Delhi based think tank Observer Research Foundation. 

Kotzias noted that the old powers are declining while a new balance of power is emerging with countries like India and China. "It is a transformation time and difficult time with forces of fundamentalism and terrorism trying to destabilize the world," he said. 

Nikos Kotzias is on a three days visit to India as part of the regular high-level exchanges between the two countries. Minister for Foreign Affairs of #Greece Nikos Kotzias meets EAM @SushmaSwaraj in New Delhi pic.twitter.com/NzvXsY1xsC

— Doordarshan News (@DDNewsLive) November 27, 2017

Kotzias met Indian Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj and held discussions on various aspects of bilateral ties and regional and multilateral issues of mutual interest.

"The discussions between the two Ministers focused on building closer cooperation in the areas of trade and investment, trade fairs, agriculture, maritime sector, culture and tourism. During the visit the two Ministers signed the Air Service Agreement and MoU on Cooperation in the field of New and Renewable Energy, "a statement from Ministry of External Affairs read.