ATHENS

Greece on Friday reaffirmed its desire to be "India's gateway to Europe," as the two countries' prime ministers met in the capital Athens.

Bilateral ties between the two countries have recently seen significant improvement, Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said in a joint press statement with his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi, who is paying Athens an official visit after a summit of the BRICS bloc of emerging economies in South Africa.

"Our primary goal is to double bilateral trade with India within the next four years," Mitsotakis said, pointing out that Greece and India could further boost cooperation in fields including the economy, defense, tourism, culture, and climate change.

Modi, for his part, underlined the two countries' commitment to elevating their bilateral relations to the strategic level.

"We have decided to increase our cooperation in the areas of defense and security, infrastructure, agriculture, education, new and emerging technology, and skill development and strengthen our strategic partnership," he said.

Earlier, Modi had been conferred with Greece's Grand Cross of the Order of Honour by President Katerina Sakellaropoulou.

Bilateral trade between Greece and India totaled about $2 billion last year and was in favor of the latter.