Prime Minister Narendra Modi returned to New Delhi on Saturday after concluding his day-long visit to Italy.

In a social media post, the Prime Minister described the visit as productive and said, it was an important G7 Summit, where he presented India’s perspective at the world stage.

He highlighted that the discussions were held with world leaders on various subjects. He further expressed a shared commitment to create impactful solutions that benefit the global community and create a better world for future generations.

Ministry of External Affairs(MEA)said, this visit saw fruitful dialogues on key global issues under the G7 platform and the deepening of India’s partnership with countries participating in the Summit.

During his visit, the Prime Minister attended the G7 summit and held bilaterals with several world leaders including his Italian counterpart Giorgia Meloni, United Kingdom Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, French President Emmanuel Macron, and Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.  Modi also met US President Joe Biden and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

Addressing the Outreach Session at the G7 Summit in Apulia, Italy on Friday, Modi elaborated on India’s energy transition pathway noting that its approach was based on availability, accessibility, affordability and acceptability.

He mentioned that India was working towards achieving the target of NET ZERO by 2070. Talking of India’s AI Mission premised on “AI for All”, Prime Minister emphasised that this technology should be aimed at fostering progress and well-being of all.

He underlined that India was fostering international collaboration as a founding member of Global Partnership for AI.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Modi and his Italian counterpart Giorgia Meloni reviewed the progress of the bilateral strategic partnership and agreed to strengthen cooperation in global fora and multilateral initiatives, including the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor.

The two leaders met late Friday towards the end of Prime Minister Modi’s day-long visit to Apulia, southern Italy, during which he thanked the Italian Prime Minister for the invitation to attend the G7 Summit.

A MEA readout of the meeting said the leaders committed to fulfil their shared vision for a free and open Indo-Pacific and also discussed the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC).

“Both leaders look forward to joint activities to be implemented under the Indo-Pacific Ocean Initiative framework to fulfil their shared vision for a free and open Indo-Pacific,” the Ministry of External Affairs said, amidst China’s aggressive actions in the region.

They also discussed important regional and global issues and agreed to strengthen cooperation in global fora and multilateral initiatives, including the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor, it said.

Billed as a path-breaking initiative, the IMEC envisages a vast road, railroad and shipping network among Saudi Arabia, India, the United States and Europe to ensure integration among Asia, the Middle East and the West.

The IMEC is also seen as an initiative by like-minded nations to gain strategic influence in the face of China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) which has faced increasing criticism over lack of transparency and disregard for sovereignty of the nations.

The BRI is a mega connectivity project that connects China with Southeast Asia, Central Asia, Russia and Europe. The IMEC initiative was firmed up on the sidelines of the G20 Summit in Delhi last year.

“The two leaders noted with satisfaction the regular higher political dialogue and reviewed the progress of the India-Italy Strategic Partnership. While expressing happiness at growing trade and economic collaboration, they called for expanding commercial ties in clean energy, manufacturing, Space, S&T (science and tech), telecom, AI and critical minerals to build resilient supply chains. In this context, they welcomed the recent signing of a MoU on Industrial Property Rights (IPR) which provides a framework for cooperation on patents, designs and trademarks,” it said.

The MEA said the two sides discussed bilateral defence and security cooperation and hoped to further enhance the defence-industrial collaboration. The leaders welcomed the forthcoming visit of the Italian aircraft carrier ITS Cavour and training ship ITS Vespucci to India later this year.

Prime Minister Modi is said to have thanked the Italian government for recognising the Indian Army’s contribution to the Italian campaign during World War II and informed that India will be upgrading the Yashwant Ghadge Memorial at Montone in Italy.

The MEA statement added: “Taking note of the coordination under the ‘Global Biofuels Alliance’, the leaders welcomed the signing of the Letter of Intent for Cooperation in Energy Transition which will boost bilateral cooperation in clean and green energy. They expressed happiness at the new Executive Programme of Cooperation for 2025-27 to promote joint research and development in Science & Technology.

Earlier on Friday, Meloni welcomed the Prime Minister along with leaders of Algeria, Argentina, Brazil, India, Jordan, Kenya, Mauritania, Tunisia, Turkiye, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to address the Outreach session on Artificial Intelligence, Energy, Africa and the Mediterranean, along with Pope Francis.

The G7 Summit to be concluded on Saturday was hosted under the presidency of Italy and attended by the Group of Seven Industrialised nations - the US, UK, Japan, Canada, Germany and France, and the European Union.

Strong ties between India and Japan are important for a peaceful, secure and prosperous Indo-Pacific, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said as he met his Japanese counterpart Fumio Kishida on the sidelines of the G7 summit where the two leaders expressed a wish to advance bilateral ties across various sectors.

The Prime Minister, who was on a day-long visit to Apulia, southern Italy on Friday to address the Outreach session on day two of the three-day G7 Summit, met Kishida after addressing the multilateral gathering on the topic of Artificial Intelligence, Energy, Africa and the Mediterranean.

“Strong ties between India and Japan are important for a peaceful, secure and prosperous Indo-Pacific,” Modi said in a social media statement following his talks with Kishida.

His comments came amidst China’s aggressive behaviour in the region as well as its efforts to expand its influence.

“Our nations look forward to working together in defence, technology, semiconductors, clean energy and digital technology. We also wish to advance ties in infrastructure and cultural linkages,” he said.

In a readout of the meeting, MEA said the Prime Minister thanked the Japanese counterpart for his congratulatory wishes on his re-election and affirmed that bilateral ties will continue to receive priority in his third term.

“The two leaders noted that the India-Japan Special Strategic and Global Partnership is in its 10th year and expressed satisfaction at the progress made in the relationship. They discussed ways to deepen cooperation further, adding new and emerging areas, and strengthening B2B and P2P cooperation,” reads the MEA statement.

“India and Japan are collaborating on several important areas including the landmark Mumbai-Ahmedabad High Speed Rail project that will usher in the next stage in mobility in India, the targeted 5 trillion yen worth of Japanese investment in India in 2022-2027 period, and India-Japan Industrial Competitiveness Partnership aimed at transformation of our manufacturing cooperation. The meeting between the two Prime Ministers provided an opportunity to review some of these ongoing works of cooperation,” it noted.

The two leaders concluded their talks by stating that they looked forward to continuing their discussion at the next India-Japan annual summit.