India, Greece ink joint declaration to boost defence industrial collaboration

NEW DELHI: India and Greece on Monday signed a joint declaration of intent on strengthening defence industrial cooperation between the countries, which marks a starting point for developing a five-year roadmap for boosting the partnership.

The agreement was inked after defence minister Rajnath Singh held bilateral talks with minister of National Defence of the Hellenic Republic, Nikolaos-Georgios Dendias, at the Manekshaw Centre here.During the meeting, both ministers reiterated that the India-Greece Strategic Partnership is based on “shared values of peace, stability, freedom, and mutual respect”.The two countries decided to expand capacity of their respective indigenous defence industries through partnership between India’s ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat’ and Hellenic defence reforms under ‘Agenda 2030’, the defence ministry said.A Bilateral Military Cooperation Plan for 2026 was also exchanged, charting the course for military engagements between the armed forces of both countries, a defence ministry statement said.Convergence between both the ancient sea-faring nations on various key maritime issues was also highlighted. Later in a post on X, Rajnath said, “I welcome the announcement of positioning a Greek International Liaison Officer at Information Fusion Center-Indian Ocean Region (IFC-IOR), Gurugram, to enhance maritime cooperation between both sea faring nations.”

During the stay, the Hellenic delegation also visited key defence and Industrial establishments at Bengaluru, and interacted with defence PSUs, defence industry and start-up representatives in New Delhi. The visit reaffirms strategic partnership between India and Hellenic Republic, which is based on long-standing warm and close relationship between both countries and their peoples.Prior to the meeting, the Greek defence minister laid a wreath at the National War Memorial, and paid homage to the bravehearts.