(Adnkronos) – Foreign minister Antonio Tajani will kick off a three-day visit to strategic partner India on Wednesday to bolster flourishing political and trade ties with the Asian tiger, which Italy wants to do 20 billion euros of trade with annually by 2029.
The visit will begin talks in New Delhi between Tajani and India’s prime minister Narendra Modi “to reaffirm the growth of Italian-Indian relations within the framework of the Strategic Partnership launched in 2023,” the foreign ministry said in a statement.
Tajani will also hold talks in India’s capital with his counterpart Subrahmanyam Jaishankar which will look at implementation of the 2025-29 Joint Strategic Action Plan, the statement said.
Tajani and Jaishankar will also hammer out “the next objectives in priority areas of cooperation” during their meeting, the statement continued.
Italy and India’s collaboration prospects on the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC) “as well as short-term operational initiatives, such as the creation of a fast-track corridor for customs clearance” will top the agenda at Tajani’s talks with national security advisor Ajit Dova in New Delhi, the statement added.
On Thursday, Tajani and commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal will chair the Italy-India Business Forum, taking place for the first time in Mumbai with a focus on economic cooperation in the automotive, renewable energy, sports technologies, and agri-food sectors, said the statement.
Italy’s state lender CDP, investment agency Simest, credit export agency Sace, its trade agency ITA and main private business lobby Confindustria are attending the business forum – the third this year after meetings in New Delhi in April and the northern Italian city of Brescia in June, according to the statement.
The Mumbai forum also envisages meetings with representatives of the Indian ‘Unicorn startups’ and the Italy-India Entrepreneurs’ Association, the statement noted.
Italy and India should aim for bilateral trade worth 20 billion euros annually by 2029, premier Giorgia Meloni has told Modi. The value of trade between Italy and India hit 14.3 billion last year, with exports worth 5.2 billion (+0.8%) and imports 9.1 billion (-0.4%), according to the foreign ministry.
“The large size of its market, as well as the country’s high GDP growth rates, make India one of the most promising countries in the ‘Action Plan for Italian Exports to High-Potential Non-EU Markets’,” the foreign ministry stated.
“With robust economic growth (+6.5% in 2024) and a growing population (1.4 billion, e.g. one-sixth of the world’s population), India offers many opportunities for Italian companies, especially in the high-tech, machinery, space, defence, infrastructure, renewable energy, and digitalization sectors,” the ministry concluded.
