India, Italy draw up a new drill plan as military ties tighten
Rajnath Singh hosted his Italian counterpart Guido Crosetto in New Delhi for wide-ranging discussions on regional and global developments, including the situation in West Asia.
During the meeting, the two leaders also reviewed ways to deepen defense industry cooperation, focusing on aligning India’s Atmanirbhar Bharat initiative with Italy’s defense cooperation framework.
Sharing the details of the meeting, Singh said: “I am happy to host my Italian counterpart, Mr. Guido Crosetto, in Delhi today and have extensive discussions with him. We discussed a wide range of regional and global issues, including the current situation in West Asia.
We also discussed ways to further enhance mutually beneficial defense industry cooperation under India’s Atmanirbhar Bharat program and Italy’s defense cooperation initiative.
“The 2026-27 Bilateral Military Cooperation Plan (MCP) regarding military engagements between the Armed Forces of both countries was also exchanged.”
The exchange of MCP 2026-27 formalizes structured military-to-military cooperation, including training exchanges, joint activities and institutional cooperation, and signals the deepening of defense ties between New Delhi and Rome.
