Ancient era

For the ancient Greeks, "India" (Greek: Ινδία) referred to the polity situated east of Persia and south of the Himalayas (with the exception of Serica). However, during different periods of history, "India" referred to a much wider or much less extensive place.^[3] The Greeks referred to the ancient Indians as "Indói" (Greek: Ἰνδοί, lit. 'people of the Indus River'); the Indians referred to the Greeks as "Yonas (Yavanas)"^[4] in reference to the Ionians.^[5]

18–19th century

The settlement of Greek merchants in Bengal began in the early eighteenth century and lasted until the middle of the twentieth century.^[6]

The trading house of the Ralli Brothers which operated in Kolkata and Dhaka was the most important Greek business presence in India during the 19th and 20th centuries.

Dimitrios Galanos (Greek: Δημήτριος Γαλανός, 1760–1833) was the first modern Greek Indologist who lived for 40 years in India and translated many Sanskrit texts into Greek making available the knowledge of the philosophical and literary traditions of India in Greece and the rest of the world.

The church, cemetery and property of the Greek community of Bengal are currently managed by the Charitable Foundation of the Greek Orthodox Church in Kolkata.

DNA analysis from the skeletons of the Roopkund Lake, revealed that 14 skeletons (dated ~1800 CE) had a genetic ancestry tied to Greece.^[7][8]

Modern

Diplomatic relations between Greece and India started in May 1950. India opened its resident Embassy in Athens in March 1978. The new Greek Embassy building in New Delhi was inaugurated on 6 February 2001.

The graves of Indians who died in Greece during the two World Wars are located in the memorial grounds of the cemeteries of the Allied Forces in Athens, Thessaloniki^[9] and Lemnos.

Thessaloniki was twinned with Kolkata in January 2005.^[10]

India and Greece enjoy close bilateral relations and Greece supports India's candidacy as a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council.

The two nations are closer than ever amidst their shared rivalry with Turkey. Greece is one of the few nations which openly support India on the Kashmir issue. In 2023, India and Greece along with Cyprus and Israel also formed an informal economic partnership for extraction of oil in Western Mediterranean.

Cultural Relations

On 26 November 1926, Nobel Laureate Poet Rabindranath Tagore visited Athens.^[11]

The "Dimitrios Galanos" Chair for Greek Studies was established at Jawaharlal Nehru University in New Delhi, India in September 2000.

The official language of India, Hindi, has been taught at the Foreign Language Teaching Center of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens since 2005.

Sanskrit, Hindi, Indian philosophy and South Asian history and Culture have been taught at the Athens Center for Indian and Indo-Hellenic Studies since 2016.

In March and April 1995, the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) and the Hellenic Foundation for Culture co-organized an International Symposium on "India – Greece: 2500 Years of Cultural Exchange" at the India International Center in New Delhi.

In February 2018, Indira Gandhi National Center for the Arts (IGNCA) and Benares Hindu University (BHU) organized an international conference entitled "Dimitrios Galanos and his Legacy: Indo-Greek Studies 1790–2018" held in two phases, one in New Delhi and one in Varanasi, India.^[12]

In November 2018, Europe's 1st International Symposium on Jainism was organized by ELINEPA at the Corfu Museum of Asian Art.^[13]

In June 2019, the 17th International Hindi Conference was organized by ELINEPA in Athens.^[14]

On 26 June 2021, the Ministers of External Affairs of Greece and India Nikos Dendias and S. Jaishankar and the Mayor of Athens Kostas Bakoyannis unveiled the statue of Mahatma Gandhi in Athens.^[15]

In November 2021, ELINEPA and the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) co-organized a painting exhibition and a series of cultural events in New Delhi and Chandigarh as part of the celebrations for the 200th anniversary of the Greek Revolution.^[16]

On 1 March 2022, a conferment ceremony was organized in Athens to present the Padma Shri Award from the President of India Ram Nath Kovind to the Greek Indologist Prof. Nicholas Kazanas for his distinguished service and contribution towards the enrichment of literature and education.^[17]

In December 2022, the chair for Greek Studies at Jawaharlal Nehru University and the Hellenic Institute of Byzantine and Post-Byzantine Studies (Venice) co-organized an International Conference on: "The Greek World and India: History, Culture and Trade from Hellenistic Period to Modern Times' at Jawaharlal Nehru University Conference Centre, New Delhi.^[18]

In June 2023, the Academy of Athens organized an Event on: "The research work of Indologist Miltiadis Spyrou and the unknown publications of Demetrios Galanos in India".^[19]

In April 2024, the chair for Greek Studies at Jawaharlal Nehru University in collaboration with the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, the International Hellenic University and the National & Kapodistrian University of Athens organized a multi-disciplinary International Conference on “Greece and India: History, Society, Science and Entrepreneurship” ^[20]