New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Italian counterpart Giorgia Meloni on Wednesday announced the elevation of India-Italy relations to the level of a “Special Strategic Partnership” during the former’s official visit to Italy from May 19-20.
The visit took place at the invitation of Meloni and followed earlier high-level engagements between the two leaders during the G7 Summit in Italy in 2024 and the G20 Summit in India in 2023.
Both leaders welcomed the growing momentum in bilateral ties and agreed to hold annual meetings of leaders, including on the sidelines of multilateral events, along with regular ministerial and institutional-level engagements, according to an official statement.
They also decided to establish a Foreign Ministers-led mechanism to review the India-Italy Joint Strategic Action Plan 2025-29 and provide strategic guidance to the newly elevated partnership.
On economic cooperation, the two PMs expressed satisfaction over the growing dynamism in bilateral trade and industrial collaboration. Referring to the successful conclusion of negotiations for the India-EU Free Trade Agreement, the leaders reaffirmed the shared goal of expanding bilateral trade to EUR 20 billion by 2029.
The two sides welcomed increased investments in sectors such as textiles, clean technologies, semiconductors, automotive, tourism, pharmaceuticals, digital technologies, critical raw materials, ports, and infrastructure. They also encouraged industries in both countries to strengthen industrial and technology partnerships to build resilient supply chains.
India and Italy also signed a Memorandum of Understanding on cooperation in critical minerals and agreed to strengthen collaboration in sustainable supply chains and recovery of critical minerals from unconventional sources, including electronic waste and mine tailings. Another MoU was signed in the field of agriculture and agricultural research.
Both leaders reaffirmed their commitment to the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor, describing it as a transformational initiative for global trade and connectivity. They encouraged the first IMEC Ministerial meeting in 2026 to take concrete steps to advance the project. The two countries also signed an MoU on maritime transport and ports and agreed to establish a joint working group for its implementation.
Highlighting innovation and technology as core pillars of bilateral cooperation, the two PMs announced the creation of “INNOVIT India,” an innovation hub aimed at strengthening collaboration between Indian and Italian innovation ecosystems. The initiative will support startup acceleration, joint research, university collaboration, and talent mobility in sectors including healthcare, semiconductors, logistics, energy, quantum computing, and artificial intelligence.
The leaders reaffirmed their commitment to a human-centric, secure, and trustworthy approach to Artificial Intelligence and agreed to cooperate in the sector, including in third countries. They also stressed cooperation in supercomputing, renewable energy, green hydrogen, and sustainable blue economy under the 2025-2027 Executive Program for Scientific Cooperation.
In the space sector, both sides agreed to strengthen cooperation between the Indian Space Research Organisation and the Italian Space Agency in areas including Earth observation, heliophysics, and space exploration. The leaders also discussed expanding collaboration in access to space and protection of space infrastructure.
On defence cooperation, Modi and Meloni welcomed the adoption of a Joint Declaration of Intent and a Defence Industrial Roadmap to promote technological cooperation, co-production, and co-development projects in areas such as helicopters, naval platforms, marine armament and electronic warfare.
The two countries also agreed to examine the feasibility of establishing an annual high-level military structured dialogue and decided to launch a Dialogue on Maritime Security to enhance cooperation and coordination in the maritime domain.
