By Sushil Kutty
The best part of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Greece visit, the first by an Indian PM in 40 years, was the Meghalaya Shawl and Chhattisgarh’s Dhokra Art, along with the Telangana Bidri Art vases, that Prime Minister Narendra Modi gifted to the President and Prime Minister of Greece with their spouses equal recipients, an association that Prime Minister Narendra Modi does not have to worry about.
In India, the gifts triggered talk of the glorious ties of two ancient civilizations. Did Prime Minister Narendra Modi know that as soon as he stepped on Greece soil he would be honoured with the “Grand Cross of the Order of Honour in Athens” – one more country honouring the Indian Prime Minister with its highest civilian award? Before Greece, there was Egypt. If Prime Minister Narendra Modi was Pharaoh only the biggest pyramid would have had room for all of Prime Minister Modi’s international awards.
The “Grand Cross of the Order of Honour in Athens” carries the legend “ONLY THE RIGHTEOUS SHOULD BE HONOURED”. And there are folks who say Prime Minister Narendra Modi is “self-righteous” – not “righteous”. But you couldn’t have expected Greek President Katerina Sakellaropoulou to know of this when she presented Prime Minister Narendra Modi with Greece’s highest civilian award, which has the head of Goddess Athena on its front side.
So, the Meghalaya shawl for Goddess Athena? And to top it, Telangana Bidri art vases, and Chhattisgarh Dhokra Art. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s foreign visits have become sideshows of India’s rich heritage of art. For this alone, Prime Minister Narendra Modi deserved all the awards that foreign heads of state have honoured the Indian Prime Minister with.
The question is, does this awards-for-gifts routine help take forward India’s diplomatic agenda with countries such as Greece? Best case scenario is “maybe yes”. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis made a tonne of progress in the 24 hours they had. The last Indian Prime Minister to visit Greece was in 1983. A year later, “Mrs Gandhi” was assassinated.
Ominous? That is at most Greek mythology. The reality is the Meghalaya shawl, which is a symbol of good glad tidings. So no worries. The Meghalaya shawl had a royal significance back in the centuries ago. It signified power and status, beauty and grace. It was eternal to the Khasi and Jaintia royalty. Power and status are vital to the geopolitical interests of modern Greece and modern India, too.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi said all the right words in his bilateral with Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, noting how important the Mediterranean region was to India’s interests and that India wanted to build on existing ties while extending relationships to countries with which it had little interaction. Whether the one day in Greece was “sufficient time?” is a contentious point.
The point is, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is so obsessed with the Muslim Gulf Cooperation Countries, it doesn’t tell much about his outreach with other regions and countries. That being said, Modi’s Greece visit is bound to cement India-Greece ties, help India in the Mediterranean region, which is an amalgamation of influences of Asia, Africa and Europe – a Greek Salad.
Countries of this region hold great significance for India’s geopolitical goals. The region is important for India’s Indo-Pacific policy. Countries like France and Italy are important for the Indo-Pacific region where India is a rising power. The time has come for India to reach out to Mediterranean countries including Greece in a big way.
Also, there are countries like Egypt, Spain, Italy and Cyprus with footprints in the region. By resetting ties with Greece, India is filling up a vacuum. India’s External Affairs Ministry said honouring Prime Minister Narendra Modi with Greece’s top award was a sign that Modi has made a great deal of difference to India’s ties with Greece. And that the Greek valued friendship with India.
What the external affairs ministry did not pinpoint was that over the last 9-years, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has honed his skills in diplomacy to an extent that oftentimes he does not seem to require the expertise of External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar. In other words, contrary to canards and rumours, not everything is Greek to Prime Minister Narendra Modi. If nothing, the Prime Minister’s Greece outreach has gained the Meghalaya Shawl international recognition and a certain Mediterranean appeal. (IPA Service)
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