India, Italy Elevate Bilateral Ties to Special Strategic Partnership

New Delhi, May 21 (KNN) India and Italy have agreed to elevate the bilateral partnership to special strategic sartnership level as the two countries seek to strengthen cooperation across sectors including trade and investment, defence and security, science and technology, space, energy, artificial intelligence, and critical technologies among others.

The development took place during PM Modi's official visit to Italy where he held high-level talks with his Italian counterpart Giorgia Meloni on May 20.

The two leaders also agreed to establish a Foreign Minister-level mechanism to regularly review implementation of the Joint Strategic Action Plan 2025-2029.

Both sides noted growing momentum in economic and commercial relations and reiterated their shared objective of expanding bilateral trade to 20 billion euros by 2029.

The leaders welcomed business engagements held over the past year and interacted with Indian and Italian CEOs from sectors including defence, digital technology, energy transition, infrastructure and logistics. They also supported early implementation of the India-European Union Free Trade Agreement.

In the defence sector, the two countries welcomed the signing of a Joint Declaration of Intent and an Industrial Roadmap for cooperation in co-design, co-development and co-production of defence products.

The leaders also reviewed ongoing defence engagements, including ministerial interactions, port visits and exchanges between defence forces.

The discussions also covered cooperation in space, semiconductors, critical minerals and emerging technologies.

India and Italy also agreed to continue cooperation against terrorism at bilateral and multilateral levels and reviewed implementation of the Joint Initiative to Counter Financing of Terrorism adopted in November 2025.

The two sides acknowledged the contribution of the Indian diaspora in Italy and agreed to facilitate mobility for students, researchers and academic institutions. They also announced that 2027 would be celebrated as the “Year of Culture and Tourism between India and Italy”.

The leaders reaffirmed their commitment to advancing the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC).

(KNN Bureau)