·
Narendra Modi visited Italy on 19–20 May 2026 at the invitation of Giorgia
Meloni.
·
Both leaders agreed to elevate India–Italy relations to a Special Strategic
Partnership.
·
The two countries decided to hold annual leaders’ meetings and regular ministerial
and institutional dialogues.
·
They reviewed progress under the India–Italy Joint Strategic Action Plan
2025–2029 adopted during the 2024 G20 Summit in Rio de Janeiro.
·
A new Foreign Ministers-led mechanism will monitor implementation of the
Joint Strategic Action Plan.
Economic Cooperation and Investments
·
India and Italy set a target to increase bilateral trade to €20 billion
by 2029.
·
Both sides encouraged greater investments in textiles, semiconductors, clean
technologies, automotive, pharmaceuticals, digital technologies, infrastructure,
ports and critical raw materials.
·
The leaders supported stronger cooperation among banks, stock exchanges,
investment funds and financial institutions.
·
An MoU on Critical Minerals Cooperation was signed to strengthen resilient
supply chains and promote recycling and recovery from e-waste and mine tailings.
·
Another MoU was signed for cooperation in agriculture and agricultural research.
Connectivity and Infrastructure
·
Both countries reaffirmed support for the India-Middle East-Europe Economic
Corridor, recognizing its importance for global trade and connectivity.
·
They welcomed an MoU on maritime transport and ports and agreed to establish
a joint working group for implementation.
Science, Technology and Innovation
·
India and Italy announced the creation of INNOVIT India, an innovation
hub to promote startup collaboration, research partnerships and talent mobility.
·
Priority sectors include fintech, healthcare, semiconductors, agritech, logistics, quantum computing and artificial intelligence.
·
Both leaders reaffirmed commitment to secure, human-centric and trustworthy
Artificial Intelligence.
·
Narendra Modi thanked Italy for participating in the AI Impact Summit held
in New Delhi in February 2026.
·
Cooperation in supercomputing, quantum technologies, renewable energy, green
hydrogen and blue economy research will be expanded.
·
India’s Department of Science and Technology and the Elettra Sincrotrone Trieste signed a Letter of Intent for scientific
collaboration.
Space and Defence Cooperation
·
Indian Space Research Organisation and the Italian Space Agency will deepen
cooperation in Earth observation, heliophysics and space exploration.
·
Both sides adopted a Defence Industrial Roadmap covering co-production
and co-development in helicopters, naval platforms, marine armaments and electronic
warfare.
·
India and Italy agreed to examine the feasibility of an annual high-level
military dialogue and expand joint exercises.
·
A new Dialogue on Maritime Security will be launched to enhance maritime
cooperation and information exchange.
Security and Counter-Terrorism
·
Both leaders strongly condemned terrorism and violent extremism, including
cross-border terrorism.
·
They strongly condemned the April 2025 Pahalgam terror attack and reaffirmed
cooperation against UN-designated terrorist groups.
·
India and Italy agreed to work together at the UN, FATF and other multilateral
platforms to combat terrorism financing.
·
Both countries welcomed the first meeting of the Permanent Task Force on
countering terror financing.
·
An MoU was signed between Italy’s Guardia di Finanza and India’s Directorate
of Enforcement.
Migration, Mobility and Education
·
India and Italy agreed to facilitate mobility of students, researchers and
skilled workers, especially in STEM sectors.
·
A Joint Declaration of Intent was announced to support mobility of Indian
nurses to Italy.
·
Italy launched the “ICI - Italy Calls India” initiative to connect
Indian students in Italian universities with Italian enterprises.
·
Both sides also discussed cooperation to combat irregular migration, labour
exploitation and human trafficking.
Culture and Heritage
·
Italy signed an MoU to participate in development of the National Maritime
Heritage Complex at Lothal.
·
India and Italy will celebrate 2027 as the “Year of Culture and Tourism
between Italy and India.”
·
Both countries launched a twinning programme between UNESCO World Heritage
sites in India and Italy.
·
They also agreed to strengthen film and audio-visual cooperation.
·
Narendra Modi invited Italian universities to establish campuses in India
under the National Education Policy.
India–EU and Global Cooperation
·
The leaders welcomed conclusion of negotiations for the India–EU Free
Trade Agreement and the new India–EU Comprehensive Strategic Agenda.
·
Both sides supported strengthening the India–EU Trade and Technology Council
and the India–EU Security and Defence Partnership.
·
India and Italy reiterated support for reform of the United Nations to make
it more representative.
·
They agreed to cooperate in Africa through trilateral initiatives in digital
infrastructure, healthcare, education, AI and renewable energy.
·
Both leaders reaffirmed commitment to a free, open and rules-based Indo-Pacific
in line with UNCLOS.
·
They expressed concern over tensions in West Asia and the war in Ukraine,
emphasizing dialogue, diplomacy and freedom of navigation through the Strait of
Hormuz.
Conclusion
·
Both Prime Ministers reaffirmed their commitment to deepen cooperation across
strategic, economic, technological, cultural and global governance sectors.
·
Narendra Modi thanked Giorgia Meloni for the hospitality and invited her
to visit India at a mutually convenient time.
[ABS News Service/21.05.2026]
At the invitation of the President of
the Council of Ministers of the Italian Republic, Giorgia Meloni, the Prime Minister
of India, Narendra Modi, paid an official visit to Italy on 19-20 May 2026. The
visit, following Prime Minister Modi’s visit to Italy in June 2024 for the G7 Summit
and Prime Minister Meloni’s visit to India for the G20 Summit in 2023, provided
renewed momentum to the bilateral ties. The two leaders decided to elevate India-Italy
relations to the level of a Special Strategic Partnership.
Political Dialogue
The two Prime Ministers welcomed the strong
momentum of high-level exchanges and agreed to hold annual meetings of leaders including
on the sidelines of multilateral events, as well as regular Ministerial and institutional-level
meetings.
They appreciated the concrete progress
achieved across the diverse pillars of the Joint Strategic Action Plan 2025-2029
adopted by the two leaders in their meeting during the G20 Summit held in Rio de
Janeiro in November 2024. They agreed to establish Foreign Ministers-led mechanism
to review the India-Italy Joint Strategic Action Plan 2025-29 and provide strategic
guidance to India-Italy Special Strategic Partnership.
Economic Cooperation and Investments
Both leaders expressed satisfaction at
the growing dynamism of bilateral economic and industrial cooperation, with three
high level business fora held since the last year. Building on the opportunities
arising from India’s rapid and consistent economic growth and the successful conclusion
of the negotiations for the EU–India Free Trade Agreement, they reaffirmed the shared
objective of expanding bilateral trade in both direction with aim to reach to €
20 billion by 2029.
They welcomed the increase of bilateral
investments in key sectors and encouraged the respective industries to forge industrial
and technology partnerships in order to build resilient supply chains. They welcomed
the prospect of greater investments, particularly in textiles, clean technologies,
semiconductors, automotive, energy, tourism, pharmaceuticals and medical technologies,
digital technologies, critical raw materials, steel, ports and infrastructure. They
encouraged industries to utilize the policy incentives and schemes in place in both
countries which seek to enhance business linkages and production facilities.
Both Prime Ministers agreed to encourage
dialogue and cooperation among stock exchanges, investment funds, venture capital,
banks, insurance companies and financial institutions.
They agreed to facilitate industrial partnerships,
including between SMEs, to foster deeper integration of supply chains. They encouraged
new sectoral missions in the coming months in priority areas of mutual interest.
The two Prime Ministers welcomed the signing
of the Memorandum of Understanding for cooperation in Critical Minerals. They agreed
to further strengthen and expand bilateral cooperation in field of critical minerals
by establishing a structured framework for collaboration, with particular emphasis
on sustainability and resilient supply chains. They underscored the importance of
promoting joint efforts in recovery of critical minerals from unconventional sources,
including electronic waste and mine tailings, as an integral component of circular
economy initiatives. They also expressed satisfaction on signing of the Memorandum
of Understanding for cooperation in the field of agriculture and agricultural research
between respective ministries and institutions.
Connectivity
The two Prime Ministers reaffirmed their
commitment to cooperate on the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC),
recognising its transformational potential in reshaping and promoting global trade,
connectivity and prosperity. Appreciating the preliminary discussions around the
project, they encouraged the first IMEC Ministerial meeting to take concrete steps
for advancing this initiative in 2026.
They welcomed the signing of an MoU on
maritime transport and ports and directed their respective ministries/departments
to establish a joint working group to implement the MoU at the earliest.
Science, Technology, Innovation, Start-ups
and Artificial Intelligence
The two Prime Ministers reaffirmed that
innovation, science and technology are core drivers of the India-Italy partnership.
They announced the creation of INNOVIT
India, an innovation hub located in India aimed at strengthening cooperation between
the respective innovation ecosystems, support startup acceleration programs, market
access and business matching, joint research, university collaboration, and talent
mobility in sectors including fintech, healthcare, semiconductors, logistics and
supply chains, agritech, energy, quantum computing, and
artificial intelligence. Both leaders welcomed the inaugural Science and Innovation
Dialogue between Indian and Italian universities and research centres held in Delhi
in April 2025 and look forward to holding its next edition in Italy later this year.
Both leaders underlined the importance
of an open, free, secure, stable, accessible and peaceful ICT environment, which
is an enabler for innovation and economic growth. PM Modi thanked PM Meloni for
Italy’s constructive participation in the AI Impact Summit that took place on 19th
February 2026 in New Delhi. Both leaders reaffirmed their commitment to a human-centric,
secure, trustworthy and robust Artificial Intelligence. They agreed to collaborate
in this domain including in third countries.
The two Prime Ministers placed particular
emphasis on opportunities for cooperation in the field of supercomputing.
Building on the 2025–2027 Executive Program
for Scientific Cooperation, they supported the implementation of joint projects
and the facilitation of mobility of researchers in area of quantum technologies,
renewable energy, green hydrogen and sustainable blue economy. They also welcomed
the ongoing implementation of the Memorandum of Understanding for cooperation in
the field of scientific research and the launching of a joint call for proposals
to fund research projects.
The two Prime Ministers acknowledged the
longstanding scientific collaboration between the Indian Academia and the International
Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP) in Trieste and welcomed the signing of a Letter
of Intent between the Indian Department of Science and Technology and the Elettra
Sincrotrone center in Trieste,
Italy in support of activities related to the access of synchrotron radiation facility
at Elettra for Indian researchers.
Space
While appreciating the ongoing collaboration
between Italian Space Agency and the Indian Space Research Organisation, the two
leaders agreed to strengthen the partnership on Earth observation, heliophysics
and space exploration, with focused thematic engagement and to explore cooperation
on access to space and protection of space infrastructures. They expressed satisfaction
with the recent reciprocal visits of their respective space industry delegations
and looked forward to further promote commercial collaboration through exchanges
of experts and joint initiatives also in third countries.
Defence
Both Prime Ministers expressed satisfaction
with the deepening of defence cooperation including through Ministerial exchanges,
service-to-service ties, port visits, and welcomed the adoption of a Joint Declaration
of Intent and a Defence Industrial Roadmap which will promote partnerships for technological
cooperation, co-production and co-development projects, including helicopters, naval
platforms, marine armament and electronic warfare. They also recognized the importance
of protecting critical infrastructures and their related supply chains through the
strengthening of industrial resilience.
The two sides agreed to examine the feasibility
of establishing an annual high level military structured dialogue, complementing
the work of the Joint Defence Committee and the Military Cooperation Group, and
to promote joint exercises and inter-force courses.
Both leaders agreed to launch a Dialogue
on Maritime Security, with the aim of increasing maritime security cooperation,
coordination, and the exchange of information and best practices in the maritime
domain.
Security
The two leaders strongly condemned terrorism
and violent extremism in all its forms and manifestations, including cross border
terrorism. The two leaders strongly condemned the April 2025 Pahalgam terror attack
and reiterated their commitment to cooperate in the fight against terrorists and
terrorist groups and their affiliates including those listed in the UN Security
Council 1267 Sanctions regime. They called upon all countries to continue to work
towards eliminating terrorist safe havens and infrastructure, disrupting terrorist
networks and combating the financing of terrorism, consistent with the Financial
Action Task Force’s guidelines. Both leaders reiterated their commitment to work
together at the UN, FATF and other multilateral platforms.
Both leaders welcomed the first meeting
of the Permanent Task Force between India and Italy on countering the financing
of terrorism and the upcoming meeting of the Joint Working Group on Counter Terrorism.
Both leaders welcomed the conclusion of
an MoU between the Italian Guardia di Finanza and the Directorate of Enforcement
of India and looked forward to early conclusion of the Agreement on Exchange and
Mutual Protection of Classified Information and the Agreement on strengthening of
Police Cooperation. They also welcomed the ongoing discussions on other agreements
including Extradition Treaty and Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty.
Migration and Mobility
The two leaders agreed to enhance mobility
of students, researchers and skilled workers, particularly in STEM sectors, and
to expand cooperation on skills development, in line with the needs of the labour
market, including through a specific Joint Declaration of Intent on the facilitation
of mobility of nurses from India to Italy. In this context, they welcomed the ongoing
discussions between relevant agencies on Social Security Agreement (SSA).
They welcomed the launch of "ICI
- Italy Calls India: a University-Enterprise talent bridge” aimed at enhancing the
talent of Indian students enrolled in Italian universities by offering concrete
pathways for guidance, matching, and qualified integration into Italian enterprises.
They also discussed the possibility of
strengthening the cooperation to fight against irregular migration, labour exploitation
and human trafficking to ensure safe and legal migration.
Culture and Educational Exchanges
The two leaders highlighted culture as
a key pillar of bilateral dialogue and welcomed the signing of an MoU regarding
Italy’s participation in the development of the National Maritime Heritage Complex
in Lothal. They acknowledged the Indian National Pavilion at the Venice Art Biennale
in 2026. They expressed their intention to celebrate 2027 as the "Year of Culture
and Tourism between Italy and India”, which will feature a broad calendar of initiatives,
and pave the way to a major exhibition on ancient cultural relations between Italy
and India to be co-organized by the two Ministries of Culture.
The two leaders encouraged the organization
of an Italy–India Cultural Forum, bringing together institutions, experts, and representatives
of the creative industries. The two leaders appreciated the launching of the twinning
program between Indian and Italian sites inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage
List, aimed at strengthening cooperation in the protection, enhancement and management
of cultural heritage.
The two leaders agreed to further develop
the film and audio-visual cooperation between the two Nations, building on the strength
and innovative capacities of their industries and on the legal framework provided
by the bilateral co-production agreement.
The two Prime Ministers reaffirmed their
intention to strengthening cooperation in higher education and welcomed the adoption
of the Indo-Italian Roadmap on Higher Education and Research. Prime Minister Modi
invited Italian universities and institutions of excellence to open campuses in
India under India’s New Education Policy.
India-EU Relations
The Leaders welcomed the new Joint India–EU
Comprehensive Strategic Agenda agreed at the India–EU Summit on 27 January 2026
and the conclusion of negotiations of the India–EU Free Trade Agreement which would
elevate ties to a new level by enhancing market access, reducing trade barriers,
and strengthening economic security and resilience through diversified value chains
and new market opportunities.
They also reaffirmed their support for
strengthening the India–EU Trade and Technology Council as a key platform for cooperation
in trade, critical technologies, and economic security. The leaders welcomed the
India–EU Security and Defence Partnership and appreciated progress in mobility cooperation,
including the MoU on a Comprehensive Framework for Mobility.
Multilateral Cooperation
Both Leaders stressed the urgent need
to reform the United Nations to make it more representative and suited to present-day
realities.
Both Leaders emphasized the importance
of working together in the United Nations and other global platforms including G20
to protect multilateralism and uphold a rules-based international order.
Recognizing the strategic priority both
countries attach to Africa, the two Prime Ministers agreed to work together in trilateral
initiatives with African partners in areas such as Digital Public Infrastructure
(DPI), agriculture, education, healthcare, artificial intelligence, connectivity
and infrastructure and renewable energy in line with India’s development partnership
in Africa and Italy’s Mattei Plan.
The Leaders reaffirmed their shared commitment
to a free, open, peaceful and prosperous Indo-Pacific, in line with international
law, including UNCLOS. They look forward to their continued partnership in Science
and Technology and Academic cooperation pillar of Indo-Pacific Ocean Initiatives.
Both leaders expressed deep concern over
the situation in the West Asia/the Middle East and its effects in the region as
well as the rest of the world. The leaders welcomed the ceasefire announced on 8
April 2026 and underlined the importance of de-escalation, dialogue and diplomacy
for a lasting peace in the West Asia/the Middle East. They also called for freedom
of navigation and the resumption of global flows through Strait of Hormuz.
Both leaders expressed concern over the
ongoing war in Ukraine, which continues to cause immense human suffering and negative
global consequences. They agreed to continue to support efforts towards the achievement
of a comprehensive, just and lasting peace in Ukraine through dialogue and diplomacy,
in accordance with the international law and the principles of the UN Charter.
Conclusion
Noting the impressive growth and deepening
of India-Italy Special Strategic Partnership, the two leaders reaffirmed their commitment
to further expand cooperation across all sectors and continue close high-level consultations
on key global and regional developments.
Prime Minister Modi thanked Prime Minister
Meloni for the warm hospitality extended by the Government and the people of the
Italian Republic and invited Prime Minister Meloni to visit India at a mutually
convenient time.