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Strengthening of defence cooperation, trade and investments, counter terrorism, Indo-Pacific and more will be agenda of talks when Italian PM, Giorgia Meloni visits India later this week.
Europe’s first woman Prime Minister is the chief guest at the Raisina Dialogue which is organised by the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) and Delhi based Think tank ORF. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address the Raisina Dialogue which will be soon after the G20 Foreign Minister Meeting in New Delhi.
According to the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) the Italian PM will be visiting India from March 2-3 and she will be a keynote speaker at the 8th Raisina Dialogue. This is the first bilateral VVIP visit from the European nation in five years. In her State Visit she will be accompanied by her Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani and also a high level business delegation.
She will be the second European leader to be a chief guest at Raisina Dialogue, as last year European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen was the chief guest last year when the Russia-Ukraine war had started.
India-Italy Bilateral Relations
For India, Italy has been closely following the European Union’s Indo-Pacific Strategy and is keen to participate in it both economically as well as strategically.
Italy has also announced its intentions to take a tough line on China. The Italian leader is expected to visit Beijing later this year and will have a meeting with President Xi Jinping.
PM Modi and the Italian PM met on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Bali last year and the two leaders talked about food and energy security, defence cooperation and other areas of interest.
The two countries are celebrating 75 years of diplomatic relations and later this week when the two leaders meet they are also expected to discuss maritime security, green hydrogen as well as Indo-Pacific.
India-Italy Defence Cooperation
Italy is keen to revive the defence trade between the two countries, after India lifted a ban on the Italian defence major Leonardo from doing business with the Ministry of Defence.
In November 2021, Leonardo S.p.A. and its subsidiary AgustaWestland International UK were dropped from the list of entities restricted from doing any business with the Indian Ministry of Defence. However, AgustaWestland is no longer a separate entity after being merged with Leonardo.
Fast Forward
It has been reported earlier in 2021 that the suspension was lifted as the Indian Navy was not able to find alternatives for procuring 127mm naval guns and heavy-weight torpedoes.
For India’s first indigenous aircraft carrier INS Vikrant, Italian Fincantieri is the know-how provider for capability enhancement and technology upgrade.
Since the Indian Navy’s P-75 `Scorpene’ class submarines are still with `heavy-weight’ torpedoes, this will be on the agenda of talks.
The Ministry of Defence in 2014 had cancelled a €546 million (US $624 million) contract with AgustaWestland International UK which was at that time a subsidiary of the erstwhile Italian company Finmeccanica. The deal was for the procurement of 12 AW-101 VVIP helicopters and it was cancelled over charges of corruption.
Now, Leonardo S.p.A is allowed to do business in India.
A bilateral defence cooperation deal is being drafted and is likely to be announced during this visit or later in the year when the Italian leader will be in New Delhi for the G20 summit.
After a long time, at the recently concluded Aero-India 2023, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh had held talks with Italian State Secretary for Defence Matteo Perego Di Cremnago in Bengaluru.
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