New Delhi, Apr 12 (UNI) Visiting Italian Deputy PM and Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani and External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar held bilateral talks here during which they renewed their commitment to take forward the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor (IMEEC) strategic initiative.
In this context, EAM also welcomed Italy’s appointment of a Special Envoy for IMEEC.
Tajani is visiting India from April 11-12, and is accompanied by the Minister of University and Research, Anna Maria Bernini, and a large delegation of businesses, leading universities and research institutions.
FM Tajani also met with the Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal. Minister Bernini met with Ministers of State of Science and Technology, and Education.
During the delegation level talks, EAM and FM Tajani reviewed the growing bilateral cooperation under the ambit of the Joint Strategic Action Plan (JSAP) 2025-29, which included the areas of trade and investment, defence and security, space, science and technology, clean energy transition, culture, tourism and people to people ties, a statement said.
They expressed satisfaction at the regular high-level interactions and exchanges, and noted the vast potential of cooperation between India and Italy in areas of AI, cyber, telecom, digital technologies, renewable energy, biofuels, education and academic collaborations, scientific research and mobility of youth and professionals, among others.
The Ministers reiterated their commitment to elevating the bilateral strategic partnership and ensuring concrete outcomes from the JSAP.
EAM Jaishankar and FM Tajani exchanged views on global and regional developments of mutual interest. EAM welcomed Italy’s continued focus on the Indo-Pacific. EAM and FM Tajani renewed their commitment to take forward the India Middle East Europe Economic Corridor (IMEEC). In this context, EAM welcomed Italy’s appointment of a Special Envoy for IMEEC.
EAM, DPM Tajani and Minister Bernini co-chaired the inaugural India-Italy Business, Science and Tech Forum which seeks to facilitate tech collaborations, innovation, academic and R&D partnerships, co-production and joint business ventures.
The forum saw the participation of more than 100 Italian companies and counterpart Indian companies from four key sectors: Industry 4.0 and new technologies; infrastructure, transport and logistics; clean energy transition; and aerospace and defence.
Several B2B meetings were held with the objective of forging economic and commercial partnerships.
An Education, Science and Tech, Innovation Forum was also organized in which Heads of universities and research centres from both countries participated to explore research and innovation, and higher education collaborations. The Ministry of Science and Technology, GOI and Ministry of University and Research , Italy signed an MoU for cooperation in the field of scientific research.
EAM and DPM also visited the painting of Caravaggio, the 17th century Italian artist at the Italian Cultural Centre. This, along with the exhibition of Roman mosaics and Italian textiles inaugurated during the visit, further enriched the strong cultural ties between the two countries.
India-Italy bilateral relations are acquiring diversity and depth, with regular Leaders level engagement and Ministerial dialogues. The visit and engagements of DPM Tajani were instrumental in taking forward the strategic partnership and diversifying bilateral cooperation across domains, as per JSAP 2025-29, the statement added.
Ahead of his India visit, FM Tajani said: “We strongly believe in the Italy–India partnership, particularly in light of the Joint Strategic Action Plan aimed at strengthening our bilateral ties in key areas of cooperation.
“Energy transition, connectivity, advanced manufacturing, defence, security, tourism, migration and mobility are just some of the sectors we intend to promote together during the 2025–2029 period.
“In 2024, trade between Italy and India exceeded euro 14 billion, with Italian exports growing by over 30% in the past seven years. The spirit of my visit to New Delhi is to give further momentum to these relations.”
UNI RN