Apulia (Italy). Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a bilateral meeting with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni on the sidelines of the G-7 Summit and discussed defense and security cooperation between the two countries. The Ministry of External Affairs said in a statement that the two leaders discussed bilateral defense and security cooperation and hoped to further enhance defense industrial cooperation. He welcomed the visit of Italian aircraft carrier ITS Cavour and training ship ITS Vespucci to India later this year. Apart from this, Prime Minister Modi thanked the Italian government for recognizing the Indian Army’s contribution to the Italian campaign during World War II. PM Modi’s Italy tour is over and he has left for India. These are 10 special points of conversation between PM Modi and Georgia Meloni.
In the talks between the two leaders, it was agreed that India would work to further improve the Yashwant Gadge Memorial in Montone, Italy.
Prime Minister Modi and his Italian counterpart Giorgia Maloni expressed satisfaction over the regular high-level political dialogue and reviewed the progress of the India-Italy strategic partnership.
Expressing happiness over growing trade and economic cooperation, they called for expanding trade ties in clean energy, manufacturing, space, science and technology, telecommunications, AI and critical minerals to ensure resilient supply chains.
Both leaders welcomed the recent MoU on Industrial Property Rights (IPR), which provides a framework for cooperation on patents, designs and trademarks.
During the meeting, the two leaders welcomed the signing of the Letter of Intent for Cooperation in Energy Transition, which will promote bilateral cooperation in clean and green energy. This was addressed under the ‘Global Biofuel Alliance’.
The Ministry of External Affairs said the two leaders welcomed the new operational program of cooperation for 2025-27 to promote joint research and development in science and technology.
Prime Minister Modi later wrote on Twitter that we discussed ways to further strengthen India-Italy relations in trade, energy, defence, telecommunications and other areas.
PM Modi said that our countries will work together in future sectors like biofuels, food processing and critical minerals.
Prime Minister Maloney also congratulated the Prime Minister for his third consecutive term. The G-7 summit is being held in the Apulia region of Italy from June 13-15, where India has been invited as an ‘outreach country’ for the summit.
It has the participation of seven member countries America, Britain, Canada, Germany, Italy, Japan and France as well as the European Union.
First published: June 15, 2024, 07:02 IST