Italy and India set to upgrade ties during PM Modi’s visit to Rome
Like other European countries, Italy looked to India as an ally at a time of geopolitical turmoil. The European Union signed a long-delayed trade deal with India earlier this year, aimed in part at reducing its dependence on the United States.
Modi’s trip will be his first bilateral visit to Italy after his participation in the G7 summit in June 2024 and the G20 meeting three years ago. He will meet Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni at the 17th-century Villa Doria Pamphili on Wednesday.
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“This visit will focus on how to increase India-Italy cooperation, especially focusing on the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC),” Modi wrote on his account on social media platform X after landing in Rome.
IMEC is a project that aims to develop trade routes connecting India to the Persian Gulf and the Persian Gulf to Europe, based on a memorandum signed in 2023 between partners including the European Union and the United States.
INCREASING TRADE
The official, who requested anonymity, said the two leaders will issue a joint declaration to strengthen their partnership, including annual heads of government summits and a target of reaching 20 billion euros ($23.2 billion) in bilateral trade by 2029.
According to the website of the Italian embassy in New Delhi, bilateral trade will exceed 14 billion euros in 2023.
G20 members, who established a “strategic partnership” in 2023, have already expanded cooperation in sectors such as scientific research, trade and artificial intelligence, the official said.
Modi and Meloni will attend a working dinner with senior executives of leading Italian and Indian industrial groups, who will exchange views on how economic, trade and investment cooperation can be further strengthened.
The official said that agreements covering maritime transportation, agriculture, higher education, critical minerals, museum cooperation and the fight against economic and financial crimes will also be signed.
Meloni and Modi will also discuss important international issues such as security in the Middle East, Ukraine and the Indo-Pacific.
Modi said he also planned a meeting with Italian President Sergio Mattarella and would visit the headquarters of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).
