New Delhi: India and Italy have elevated their bilateral ties to strategic partnership level and decided to deepen defence cooperation between the two nations.
Briefing media on high-level talks between Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and visiting Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, Foreign Affairs Secretary Vinay Kwatra on Thursday said that the discussions between the two leaders covered the entire gamut of bilateral, regional and global co-operation.
He said that a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on defence cooperation has been concluded between the two countries. The areas of cooperation within the defence sector include manufacturing, co-production, co-design and co-innovation among others.
“In terms of sub-sectors within the defence it was clear during the discussion that with legacy issues behind us the door is now open for the industries on the two sides to cooperate more strongly in this area particularly in the field of manufacturing, co-production, co-design, co-innovation,” Kwatra said.
During the bilateral discussion, the broader segment of economic cooperation focused on 4-5 key segments including trade and investment. As the two leaders discussed trade and investment, PM Modi underlined to the Italian Prime Minister the scale, extent and the range of opportunities that exist in the Indian economic ecosystem for the Italian industries to come and participate with.
The Foreign Secretary noted that India and Italy witnessed record bilateral trade last year.
The Italian Prime Minister is on her official visit to India on the invitation of PM Modi. She is accompanied by a high-powered business delegation also.
