India and Italy on Friday reviewed the entire spectrum of their bilateral ties and strategic partnership during talks between External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and his visiting counterpart Luigi Di Maio. He was on a three-day visit to India starting May four.
In the context of recent geopolitical developments, the two ministers exchanged views on regional and global issues of mutual interests including Ukraine, Afghanistan and Indo-Pacific and cooperation in multilateral forum including G-20.
On Ukraine, the two Ministers expressed their concern on the ongoing humanitarian crisis and called for an immediate cessation of hostilities. They also underlined the importance to safeguard the international order based on the UN Charter, with special regard to the respect of sovereignty and territorial integrity, a joint press statement issued after the meeting said.
The two sides also reviewed the progress in implementation of the 2020-2024 Action Plan adopted at the virtual summit in November, 2020.
They welcomed the growing bilateral trade and investment linkages and agreed to expand them in new areas of common interest.
They also discussed the implementation of the India-Italy Strategic Partnership on Energy Transition announced last year during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Italy and agreed to explore partnerships in areas such as gas transportation, green hydrogen, bio fuels and energy storage, the joint press statement said.
In addition, they agreed to jointly organize an India - Italy Technology Summit on Energy Transition and Circular Economy, to be held in Delhi on 17 November 2022.
The two leaders noted the potential for a closer industrial collaboration, including in the field of defence. They reiterated their commitment to closely work in countering common challenges related to terrorism, violent extremism and cyber crime.
Di Maio also had a meeting with Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal and co-chaired a business round-table which saw participation of top business leaders particularly in the energy, defence, sustainable mobility, and infrastructure sectors.Earlier during his visit, the Italian Minister visited Bengaluru on May five where he met Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai and inaugurated the premises of the new Consulate General of the Italian Republic.
He also visited the Indian Space Research Organisation and the Indian Institute of Science along with their Italian counterparts, the Italian Space Agency and Elettra Sinctrotrone Trieste, with which scientific partnerships and joint projects are being developed.