by Maria Spiliopoulou
ATHENS, June 18 (Xinhua) -- Indian President Ram Nath Kovind was on a state visit to Athens on Monday for talks with Greek leaders aimed at strengthening cooperation between the two countries.
It was Kovind's maiden trip to Europe and the first time since 2007 that an Indian President visited Greece, he noted, speaking in front of the camera of the Greek public television ERT during the welcome ceremony by his Greek counterpart Prokopis Pavlopoulos.
Pavlopoulos said Greece aims at fostering stronger ties between Indian and the European Union.
The Indian president on his part said India is keen to deepen the ongoing cooperation between both countries especially in the political and economic fields.
Kovind was also welcomed by Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras at the latter's office.
Kovind expressed India's support and solidarity with Greece as the country is exiting a deep financial crisis, while Greek leaders referred also to the historic agreement signed on Sunday in northern Greece to settle the Macedonia name dispute after three decades.
Greece seeks relations of friendship and good neighborhood with Skopje and favors its northern neighbor's NATO and European prospects, as long as Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia's (FYROM) constitution will be revised, under Sunday's deal, Pavlopoulos said.
It is important for Athens that, through this agreement, India will refer to FYROM by its new name, as "North Macedonia", Tsipras said.
Athens and Skopje have been at odds over the use of the name of Macedonia since the neighboring state declared independence from Yugoslavia in 1991.
Macedonia is also the name of a northern province in Greece and Athens expressed concern from the start that the use of the same name by its northern neighbor could lead to territorial claims.