India and Italy Reaffirm Commitment to Strengthen Strategic Partnership as PM Modi Meets Meloni in Rio

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Italian counterpart Giorgia Meloni acknowledged that there was considerable potential of the India-Italy Strategic Partnership on the sidelines of the G20 Summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

During the bilateral meeting on Monday, they agreed to advance their collaboration by working out a series of targeted, time-sensitive initiatives as well as a joint strategic action plan for advancing this partnership, according to the statement released by the Prime Minister's Office.

Prime Minister Modi with Italian counterpart Giorgia Meloni have been discussing further bolstering the partnership between New Delhi and Rome in quite a few important sectors. "Pleased to have met PM Giorgia Meloni on the sidelines of the Rio G20 Summit.

Our discussions centered around deepening ties in defense, security, trade, and technology. We also discussed ways to step up cooperation in culture, education, and other areas of our relationship". India-Italy friendship can greatly contribute to a better planet," the PM detailed.

Italian PM Meloni also went to X and wrote, "Always a great pleasure to meet the Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi, also on this occasion of the G20 Summit in Rio de Janeiro." "A precious opportunity for dialogue that allowed us to reaffirm our common commitment to advance the India-Italy strategic partnership, with the announcement of a joint strategic action plan 2025-29 in key sectors such as trade and investment, science and technology, new and emerging technologies, clean energy, space, defence, connectivity," she further said.

"Together we expressed our desire to continue working together to further deepen our bilateral partnership for the benefit of the economies and citizens of both nations and in support of the shared values of democracy, rule of law and sustainable development," the Italian PM added. Italy and India agreed on the following: 1.

Political Dialogue a. Continue regular mutual visits at the level of Heads of Government, Ministers of Foreign Affairs, Trade, and Defence, including on the margins of multilateral meetings and engagements. b. Continue having annual bilateral consultations between both Foreign Ministries at the Senior Official's level, including Foreign Office Consultations. c. Stepping up mutual interactions between the heads of other ministries to broaden cooperation in all areas of mutual interest. 2. Economic Cooperation and Investments a.

Leverage the work of the Joint Commission for Economic Cooperation and that of the Italy-India Joint Working Group on Food Processing as appropriate measures to increase bilateral trade, market access, and investment particularly in sectors with high potentials such as transportation, agricultural products and machinery, chemical-pharmaceuticals, wood and furniture, critical and emerging technologies, food processing, packaging and cold chain, green technologies and sustainable mobility, including through co-development and co-production, as well as joint ventures of large companies and SMEs. b. Encourage participation in trade fairs and periodic business fora, with the participation of industrial and economic associations and chambers of commerce. c. Encourage industrial partnerships, technological centers and mutual investment also on automotive, semiconductors, infrastructure and advanced manufacturing. 3. Connectivity a.

Encourage cooperation on sustainable transport in the context of environmental sustainability and climate change. b. Enhance collaboration in maritime and land infrastructure also in the framework of the India – Middle East – Europe Economic Corridor (IMEEC) and conclude the Agreement on cooperation in the maritime and port sector. 4. Science, Technology, IT, Innovation and Start-ups Expand cooperation on critical and emerging technologies, forging technology value chain partnerships in both countries in sectors such as telecom, artificial intelligence, and digitalisation of services. Explore new avenues of cooperation in Industry 4.0, advanced manufacturing, clean energy, critical minerals extraction and refining, involving academia and industries, including SMEs and start-ups of the two countries. c. Taking into account Italy's and India's national research priorities, enhance innovation and research collaborations, also within the context of the Indo-Pacific Oceans Initiative (IPOI), in areas of common interest. d. Increase educational and research opportunities, especially in the STEM domain, also focusing attention on scholarships while fostering collaboration between leading scientific organisations and joint projects. e. Foster interaction between start-ups and the relevant innovation ecosystems of the two countries.

Focusing on, inter alia, fintech, edtech, health care, logistics and supply chain, agritech, chip design and green energy. f. Establish the Indo-Italian Innovation and Incubation Exchange Programme to fully exploit both parties' complementarity in expertise and capacity for the development of scientific innovation and incubation ecosystems of academic and research institutions. g. Recognize the experience of the Executive Programme of Cooperation that could be enhanced further through other new bilateral instruments of cooperation. h. Implement the Executive Programme for scientific and technological cooperation for the years 2025-27 to be operationalised later this year, through which both sides will be co-founding significant research and mobility-based joint projects. 5. Space Sector a.

Expand the cooperation between the Italian Space Agency (ASI) and the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) to include projects of common interest in Earth observation, heliophysics and space exploration with emphasis on lunar science. b. Increase cooperation in developing respective vision, research and development to peaceably use outer space for sustainable purposes. c. Explore and facilitate mutual commercial space cooperation involving large industries, MSMEs, and start-ups. d. Organize, preferably by mid-2025, a mission to India by an Italian delegation of representatives of the space industry focused on research, space exploration, and commercial cooperation. 6. Energy Transition a.

Organize "Tech Summits" to share best practices and experience, foster mutual knowledge of each other's industrial ecosystems, and facilitate industrial partnerships. b. Accelerate technology development and initiate joint R&D partnerships. c. Provide an additional push to the Joint Working Group on Renewable Energy to facilitate the above-mentioned cooperation in green hydrogen, biofuels, renewables, and energy efficiency. d. Collaborate to strengthen the Global Biofuels Alliance and International Solar Alliance. e. Share information on innovative grid development solutions and regulatory aspects related to renewable energy. 7. Defence Cooperation a. Ensure the regular holding, on a yearly basis, of Joint Defence Consultative (JDC) meetings, as well as Joint Staff Talks (JST) to coordinate exchanges of information, visits and training activities. b. Open interactions between respective Armed Forces in the context of Italy's growing interest in the Indo-Pacific Region, so as to deepen interoperability and cooperation, including negotiation on any useful arrangement supportive of such interactions. c. Pursue opportunities for intensified partnerships and dialogue between public and private partners, particularly in terms of technology collaboration, co-production and co-development of defence platforms and equipment. d. Strengthen maritime cooperation, including in the area of response to marine pollution and marine search and rescue. e. Negotiate a Defence Industrial Roadmap between the two Ministries of Defence and help in promoting a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the Society of Indian Defence Manufacturers (SIDM) and the Italian Industries Federation for Aerospace, Defence and Security (AIAD). f. Perform continuous interaction on defence research between scientists and technical experts of both sides. 8.

Security Cooperation a. Strengthen security cooperation through frequent exchanges and capacity-building activities in identified fields, for example in cybersecurity and cybercrimes. b. Pursue sectoral discussions such as cyber dialogue, share policy updates, practices, training opportunities, and have consultations on cooperation in multilateral forums when necessary. c. Maintain annual bilateral meetings of the Joint Working Group on Combating International Terrorism and Transnational Crime. Strengthen cooperation in the fight against terrorism at the bilateral, regional and international forums. In keeping with this spirit of cooperation, both sides agree to: i. Strengthen cooperation in judicial matters and between respective police and security personnel, including through capacity-building programmes; ii. Share information and best practices in the fight against terrorism. e. Conclude an agreement for the mutual protection and exchange of classified information. 9.

Migration and Mobility a. Promote safe and legal migration channels, as well as fair and transparent labour training and recruitment procedures. A pilot project will cover the training of health professionals in India and their subsequent employment in Italy. b. Enhance cooperation to counter the facilitation of irregular migration. c. Increase mobility of students, researchers and academics also by concluding agreements between the respective Administrations in charge of higher education. 10. Culture, Academic and People-to-People Exchanges, Cinema and Tourism a. Increase collaboration and exchanges between universities and higher education institutions of the two countries, as well as cooperation in the field of technical and vocational education. b. Promote exhibitions and cultural initiatives to deepen mutual knowledge, also through the establishment of partnerships between museums. c. Work on increasing film co-productions and filmmaking in their respective countries. d. Strengthen bilateral collaboration on the preservation and restoration of old and heritage sites and buildings. e. Foster connections and tourist flows in both directions. f. Recognize the input of the dynamic Indian and Italian communities in the fostering of bilateral and cultural ties and long-standing bonds of friendship. g. Implement the Executive Programme of Cultural Cooperation that was signed in 2023.