Greece–Pakistan relations are foreign relations between

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

and

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

. Pakistan's first embassy in

Athens Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...

was opened in 1975. Greece established an embassy in

Islamabad Islamabad (; , ; ) is the capital city of Pakistan. It is the country's tenth-most populous city with a population of over 1.1 million and is federally administered by the Pakistani government as part of the Islamabad Capital Territory. Bu ...

in 1987.

History

Ancient relations

For the

ancient Greeks Ancient Greece () was a northeastern Mediterranean civilization, existing from the Greek Dark Ages of the 12th–9th centuries BC to the end of classical antiquity (), that comprised a loose collection of culturally and linguistically re ...

, “India" () referred to the land of the River Indus. The polity situated east of

Persia Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

and south of the

Himalayas The Himalayas, or Himalaya ( ), is a mountain range in Asia, separating the plains of the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau. The range has some of the Earth's highest peaks, including the highest, Mount Everest. More than list of h ...

(with the exception of

Serica Serica (, ) was one of the easternmost countries of Asia known to the Ancient Greek and Roman geographers. It is generally taken as referring to North China during its Zhou, Qin, and Han dynasties, as it was reached via the overland Silk Roa ...

). Although, during different periods of history, "India" referred to a much wider or much less extensive place.Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography (1854) William Smith, LLD, Ed. - India
/ref> The Greeks referred to the ancient Indians as "Indói" (); the Indians referred to the Greeks as " Yonas (Yavanas)"The Influence of Greek Classics on Indian Culture in Ancient Era
/ref> in reference to the

Ionians The Ionians (; , ''Íōnes'', singular , ''Íōn'') were one of the traditional four major tribes of Ancient Greece, alongside the Dorians, Aeolians, and Achaeans. The Ionian dialect was one of the three major linguistic divisions of the ...

. Part of today's Pakistan became part of the

Indo-Greek Kingdom The Indo-Greek Kingdom, also known as the Yavana Kingdom, was a Hellenistic period, Hellenistic-era Ancient Greece, Greek kingdom covering various parts of modern-day Afghanistan, Pakistan and northwestern India. The term "Indo-Greek Kingdom" ...

, founded by the successors of

Alexander the Great Alexander III of Macedon (; 20/21 July 356 BC – 10/11 June 323 BC), most commonly known as Alexander the Great, was a king of the Ancient Greece, ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia (ancient kingdom), Macedon. He succeeded his father Philip ...

Modern relations

The Greek architect and urban planner

Constantinos Apostolou Doxiadis Constantinos A. Doxiadis (14 May 1913 – 28 June 1975), often cited as C. A. Doxiadis, was a Greek architect and urban planner. During the 1960s, he was the lead architect and planner of Islamabad, which was to serve as the new capital city ...

was the lead architect and planner of

. Greece supports a successful outcome of the bilateral Indo-Pakistani dialogue and a peaceful resolution of the differences between the two countries, including the dispute over Kashmir.

Diaspora

As of 2023, there are around 60,000 Pakistanis settled in Greece.

High level visits

On 7 February 2022, the Minister of Migration and Asylum, Mr. Notis Mitarachi paid an official visit to

Migrant crisis

The issue of unlawful migrants, including criminals posed a serious problem that the Pakistani

Federal Intelligence Agency The Federal Intelligence Agency () mostly known for its abbreviation AFI, was the principal intelligence agency of Argentina. This organization was the successor to the Secretariat of Intelligence (mostly known for its acronym "SIDE") and has tw ...

opened offices in Greece to help track down and remove these people from within Greece.

References

External links

Greek Foreign Affairs Ministry about relations with Pakistan

Greek embassy in Islamabad

Pakistani embassy in Athens
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