Athens | Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday held engaging interactions with prominent personalities from diverse fields during his maiden visit to Greece and discussed the possibilities of further popularising Indian culture in this country.

The prime minister met noted professors, a musician and head of a religious organisation.

"PM @narendramodi had an engaging exchange of views jointly with Professor Dimitrios Vassiliadis, Indologist and Sanskrit & Hindi professor at University of Athens, and Dr. Apostolos Michailidis, Assistant Professor at Department of Social Theology, University of Athens," the Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said in a post on X.

They briefed Modi on their work on Indian religions, philosophy and culture.

The discussions took place on the potential for deepening academic collaboration between Indian and Greek universities.

"PM @narendramodi met Greek researcher, musician and friend of India, Konstantinos Kalaitzis, in Athens. PM appreciated Mr. Kalaitzis affection for India and his passion for Indian music and dance. They discussed possibilities of further popularizing Indian culture in Greece," Bagchi said.

"PM @narendramodi met Guru Dayanidhi Das, head of The International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) in Greece. PM recalled their meeting in 2019 in India. He was briefed on ISKCON's activities in Greece," he added.

Modi arrived in the Greek capital from South Africa where he attended the 15th BRICS Summit and held bilateral meetings with several world leaders to further cement India's relations with those countries.

His daylong visit is the first by an Indian premier in 40 years.

Modi is here at the invitation of Prime Minister of Greece Kyriakos Mitsotakis.

The last high-level visit to Greece took place in September 1983 when then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi travelled to the country.

India and Greece enjoy civilisational ties, which have strengthened in recent years through cooperation in areas like maritime transport, defence, trade and investments and people-to-people ties.