Talking much before the exploits of Alexander the Great over the Indus River valley, the Greeks had ties with the subcontinent as long as the 6th century BC. And, even after the death of Alexander (in 323 BC), the Greek influence continued till the 5th century AD. Much before the Greek mainland, the kingdom of Bactria (today's Balkh, Afghanistan) exchanged knowledge in fields of sculpture and astronomy, an impact of which would be reflected in several architectures of that period. The ancient Indian scriptures of Mahabharata, Yuga Purana and other Buddhist works would mention Greeks as Yavanas (pointing to the Ionians), hence their territory on the Indian land as Yavanarajya.
The other countries or kingdoms denoting the Indo-Greek cultures were Drangiana (Seistan Basin; Iran-Afghanistan), Taksasila (Taxila, Pakistan), Abhisara (near modern-day Kashmir), Arachosia (Arghandeb valley, Afghanistan), Paropamisadae (northern Afghanistan-Pakistan), Gedrosia (coastal Balochistan, Pakistan) and Sindhu (today's Sindh, Pakistan). In the Indian history, two important kingdoms are mentioned that were situated over the Hindu Kush mountains; Gandhara and Kamboja. Kamboja's importance and legacy exists today in the name of a southeast Asian nation, Cambodia. Both Cambodia and its former name Kampuchea derives their etymologies from Kamboja.
Some of the key establishments during this period are now part of modern-day Pakistan and Afghanistan. The Indo-Greek provinces laid outside the modern-day India's boundaries and inhabited major populace in places such as Alexandria (Kandahar and Ghazni), Pushkalavati (or Peukelaotis; modern-day Peshawar, Pakistan). Pushkalavati was also made the capital of the Gandhara kingdom and holds importance in the Indo-Greek chapter as well.
Buddhism was the prevalent religion of the kingdoms whose impact was felt even in the Greek world. Three important names; Menander I Soter (180 BC-150 BC), Menander II Dikaios (reigned 90-85 BC) and Dharmaraksita were the Greeks who associated themselves with the expansion and spread of Buddhism outside the Indian subcontinent. The Greek influence can also be seen in various architectural and sculptural forms, like cupids, friezes and Corinthian columns into the Buddhist school. The Greek impact was stretched through the later Gupta Empire period that existed between the 4th century to 6th century AD. The Greek void between mainland Greece and the Indian subcontinent was filled by the Bactrian rulers and it was around 140 BC that the Greek rule ended in the region by the future Kushan Dynasty. It was also during the Kushan reign that Buddhism spread to other parts of Asia, particularly in the east. The greatest Kushan ruler Kanishka (or Kanis) erected various Buddhist stupas all across its empire, and built a 400 ft high Buddhist tower at Pushkalavati, which was destroyed finally by the Mahmud of Ghazni in the 11th century AD.
To get a contrast with what was the situation of the outside world during this time, it is important to know that there existed few empire-states in other continents, making the Indo-Greek kingdoms occupy a front-seat. In Europe, apart from the Greek City-States along the coast of Italy and France and the Macedonian Empire spread throughout the Balkan, mainland Europe had nomadic tribes filled in certain pockets, some of which would never really shape into any large-scale empire structure. In Africa, civilization existed only along the River Nile, with kingdoms such as those of Ancient Egypt, Kush (in Sudan) and Axum (in Eritrea-Ethiopia belt). The Roman Empire was yet to be born but the Carthaginian Empire was flourishing along the coastline of modern-day Algeria, Tunisia, Spain, Portugal and islands of Italy and France.
Focusing back on Asia, if the Greeks were prospering with their amalgamation of ancient Indian culture around the Hindu Kush mountains, there was this giant Seleucid Empire under Seleucus I Nicator, (the general in Alexander's army) spreading from modern-day Turkey to Uzbekistan, covering entire Iran, Iraq and the Levant region. India itself was under the dominating Mauryans, the first dynasty on the subcontinent to stretch in all four directions. At the same time there existed a Nabatean Kingdom that covered the Sinai peninsula of modern-day Egypt, Jordan, Israel and northwestern Saudi Arabia. Hence, its noteworthy to observe that once being at the centre-stage of world politics, the Indo-Greek ties dwindled with the arrival of newer empires.
Greece and India never crossed paths in any future conflicts. If we have to take the Graeco-Bactrian geography, the linkage between Afghanistan and India was replaced from the Buddhist influence of developing arts and culture to the destructive middle-ages (and later) wars and battles, resulting into a series of Islamic empires. Greece itself would be overwhelmed with empires and kingdoms that were rooted outside mainland Greece, such as the Roman, the Byzantine and the Ottoman, and an independent Greece wouldn't be seen up until the 19th century. With such historical changes, relation between modern India and Greece had nothing in common as compared to how it was in the ancient era. The fading away of Indo-Greek ties is another of several examples in world history where a multi-ethnic society is replaced by warring clans that focussed majorly on territorial expansions rather than societal development.
Below here is a recreation of the Indo-Greek Empire, sourced from the Schwartzberg Digital South Asian Atlas.
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