Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi met with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni on the sidelines of the G-7 Summit on Friday, with the bilateral meeting focusing on discussing ways to boost defence and security cooperation as well as other important areas in the relationship.
The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) of India confirmed the main issues that were raised and discussed during the bilateral meeting. Both Prime Ministers expressed a strong interest in enhancing bilateral defence and security cooperation with an emphasis on increasing defence industrial cooperation. The Indian Prime Minister expressed his appreciation that Italy’s aircraft carrier, ITS Cavour, and training ship, ITS Vespucci, will visit India later this year, signaling continued progress in the defence relationship.
The Italian Prime Minister also appreciated the Indian Prime Minister’s remarks that Italy acknowledged the contribution of the Indian Army during the Italian Campaign in World War II. PM Modi also informed Prime Minister Meloni about the development plans for the Yashwant Ghadge Memorial. Prime Minister Modi underlined the historic link between India and Montone through the memorial.
The two Prime Ministers appreciated the ongoing high-level political dialogue reflected in the meeting and reviewed progress in the India-Italy Strategic Partnership. They appreciated the increase in trade and economic cooperation, emphasizing that complementing commercial ties in a wide range of areas, could be expanded further, including in clean energy, manufacturing, space, science and technology, telecommunications, artificial intelligence, and critical minerals.
Both leaders commended the recent signing of a Memorandum of Understanding on Industrial Property Rights, which provides a platform for collaboration on patents, designs, and trade marks. This is a significant step in promoting renewable energy as both leaders welcomed the signing of a Letter of Intent for Cooperation in Energy Transition, and will further enable substantial cooperation between the two countries in renewable energy.
This collaboration is in line with the “Global Biofuels Alliance” and symbolizes both countries’ commitment to sustainable development. The MEA recognized the conclusion of the new Executive Plan of Cooperation for 2025-2027, designed to facilitate collaborative research and development in science and technology.
The Executive Plan is anticipated to stimulate innovative activity and strengthen scientific collaboration between the two countries. Prime Minister Tang and Chancellor Gupta expressed their happiness with the progress in their governments’ collaboration and shared commitment to the resolution of global problems.
Prime Minister Modi, attending the G7 Summit as an invitee from Italy, expressed his gratitude to PM Meloni for the invitation and praised the excellent arrangements made for the summit. In a social media post, he mentioned, “Thanked her for inviting India to be a part of the G7 Summit and for the wonderful arrangements.” He further added, “We discussed ways to further cement India-Italy relations in areas like commerce, energy, defence, telecom, and more. Our nations will work together in futuristic areas like biofuels, food processing, and critical minerals.”
Had a very good meeting with PM @GiorgiaMeloni. Thanked her for inviting India to be a part of the G7 Summit and for the wonderful arrangements. We discussed ways to further cement India-Italy relations in areas like commerce, energy, defence, telecom and more. Our nations will… pic.twitter.com/PAe6sdNRO9
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) June 14, 2024
Italian Prime Minister (PM) Meloni had previously congratulated PM Modi on his third consecutive tenure, appreciating Modi’s leadership, and the strong bilateral relations between the two countries. The G7 Summit was conducted in the Apulia region between June 13th – 15th, where the Summit included the seven G7 Member Countries – US, UK, Canada, Germany, Turkey, Japan, and France – along with the European Union, with India as an ‘Outreach Country’.
Both the leaders noted the historical and cultural bonds between the two fellow democracies, also showed their appreciation for the strong people-to-people links shared by both nations. Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) will open the first ICCR Chair for India Studies at the University of Milan to further enhance people-to-people links.
Both the leaders also stressed the importance of mobility and noted the signing of a Migration and Mobility Agreement (MMA) to facilitate movement of professionals, students, skilled and semi-skilled workers, and researchers between the two nations.
Discussions were also focused on regional and global challenges and expressing the willingness to work together in international forums and multilateral undertakings consistent with their Cordial Partnership, the Italian-Indian relationship and the support for greater cooperation in the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC). It was also agreed to expedite cooperative activities under the auspices of Indo-Pacific Ocean Initiative framework, consistent with their shared vision, for a free; open; inclusive; healthy; and resilient Indo-Pacific.
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