Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s bilateral meeting with his Italian counterpart Giorgia Meloni saw the two sides discussing defence and security cooperation, including enhancing defence industrial collaboration.
They welcomed the forthcoming visit of the Italian aircraft carrier ITS Cavour and training ship ITS Vespucci to India later this year. Modi thanked the Italian govt for recognising the Indian Army’s contribution in Italian Campaign during WW-II and informed that India will be upgrading the Yashwant Ghadge Memorial at Montone in Italy.
The leaders noted with satisfaction the regular higher political dialogue and reviewed progress of the India-Italy strategic partnership. “While expressing happiness at growing trade and economic collaboration, they called for expanding commercial ties in clean energy, manufacturing, space, science & technology, telecom, AI and critical minerals to build resilient supply chains. In this context, they welcomed the recent signing of an MoU on Industrial Property Rights that provides a framework for cooperation on patents, designs and trademarks,” govt said.
They called for an early implementation of Migration and Mobility Agreement, which would facilitate mobility of professionals, skilled and semi-skilled workers, students and researchers. Both leaders look forward to joint activities to be implemented under Indo-Pacific Ocean Initiative framework to fulfil their shared vision for a free and open Indo-Pacific. “They also discussed important regional and global issues and agreed to strengthen cooperation in global fora and multilateral initiatives, including the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor,” said an Indian readout.