IMEC Parliamentary Friendship Group launched in Italy giving mega boost to connectivity initiative
More than forty Italian parliamentarians have already expressed their support for the group, which aims to embed a structured parliamentary diplomacy dimension into IMEC, an initiative that is vital for deepening trade and political ties between India, the Gulf Cooperation Council countries and Europe. Italy is one of the founding signatories of the project, which was launched at the G20 hosted by India in September 2023, under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Both Formentini and Giordano have long been among IMEC’s strongest advocates. Under Formentini’s guidance, the Foreign Affairs Committee established a permanent committee on the Indo-Pacific; this committee, through a sustained program of consultations and reports, produced far-reaching recommendations for Italy’s Indo-Pacific strategy – recommendations that particularly emphasized the need for stronger interaction with India.
Senator Giulio Terzi di Sant’Agata, Chairman of the EU Affairs Committee, said: “The establishment of this IMEC inter-parliamentary group is another proof of the effectiveness and centrality of parliamentary diplomacy. It creates a space for dialogue and harmony, a real driving force of interaction that becomes absolutely necessary for an international initiative like IMEC. As Chairman of the Italy-India Inter-Parliamentary Friendship Group, I can only reaffirm the importance of this body in strengthening relations between Rome and New Delhi.” He is a senior member of Prime Minister Meloni’s party, Fratelli d’Italia.
“IMEC starts in India and crosses the Gulf, entering the Mediterranean through Israel and reaching Europe. It will serve as a tool that can strengthen the connections between the relevant countries. We must consider the leap forward not only for our economies, but also for progress and cooperation in science, technology and cultural exchange. Shinzo Abe talked about the meeting of the two seas twenty years ago with his vision. Today, this intersection is becoming a reality, expanded by the connections of the European Global Gateway and the breadth of the world. The Mattei Plan,” he added.
“As Italian parliamentarians, we feel the responsibility to support this path through strong and credible parliamentary diplomacy, which is more necessary than ever in an international context marked by the need for deep change and renewed multilateralism. It is in the same context that Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani is currently in Riyadh to advance the IMEC dossier, before heading a high-level mission to India on 10 and 11 December. Italy firmly believes in the potential of IMEC and intends to take on a role in this field. “A proactive role that accompanies the development of the project with concrete initiatives, including the major event planned for spring 2026 in Trieste,” he said. Deborah Bergamini, Head of International Relations at Forza Italia. The launch was attended by ambassadors and senior diplomats from many countries at IMEC’s headquarters, including Amb. Vani Rao (India), Amb. Jonathan Peled (Israel), Amb. Bassam Rady (Egypt) and Amb. Yiorgos Christofides (Cyprus) will take over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union next month. Representatives from Germany, France, the USA and Jordan were also present. Amb. Christofides stated that during his six-month Cyprus presidency, special attention will be paid to IMEC, which Cyprus – although not an official signatory – considers to be strategic for its relations with India and the Middle East and important for the EU’s future connectivity agenda. The cross-party presence at the launch reflects the breadth of political support in Italy for strengthening relations with India. The opposition was represented by Senator Tiziana Rojc from Partito Democrato, one of the leading voices of the Trieste region, one of the most strategically located ports in Europe. Italy strongly supports Trieste as the main IMEC gateway for Europe, given the cargo-rail network connecting twelve EU countries. Senator Rojc and Senator Marco Dreosto (Lega) are known as consistent advocates of the project and India-Italy relations.
The launch of the Parliamentary Friendship Group follows the highly successful meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni on the margins of the G20 Summit in South Africa, and comes just days before an important trade mission to New Delhi (the second such mission this year) led by Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Antonio Tajani.
“IMEC represents a decisive strategic step in strengthening the role of the Mediterranean in major global routes, positioning itself as a competitive alternative to the Belt and Road Initiative and the emerging Arctic transition. Through a network of interconnected connections, it maintains the economic centrality of our sea,” declared Formentini and Giordano, expressing the hope that other national parliaments would soon establish similar committees to support the project.
