Why in the News?
During the Indian Prime Minister's official visit to Italy, India and Italy elevated their bilateral ties from a Strategic Partnership to a Special Strategic Partnership.
Key Outcomes of the Visit
- Economic and Trade Goals: India-Italy set an objective to expand bilateral trade to €20 billion by 2029.
- Defense and Security: Adopted the India-Italy Defence Industrial Roadmap and a Joint Declaration of Intent to promote technological cooperation, co-design, co-development, and co-production of defense platforms.
- MoU was established between the Italian Guardia di Finanza and India's Directorate of Enforcement to enhance security cooperation.
- Technology and Innovation: The creation of INNOVIT India was announced; which will support startup acceleration, joint research, and collaboration in sectors like artificial intelligence, quantum computing, and semiconductors.
- Infrastructure and Connectivity: Both countries reaffirmed their commitment to advance the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC) and signed an MoU to cooperate on maritime transport and ports.
- IMEC, announced in 2023, aims to link India, the Middle East, and Europe through an integrated rail and shipping corridor.
- Migration and Healthcare: Declaration of Intent was signed to facilitate the mobility of nurses from India to Italy.
- Launch of "ICI - Italy Calls India: a University-Enterprise talent bridge" aimed at enhancing the talent of Indian students enrolled in Italian universities by offering concrete pathways for integration into Italian enterprises.
- Culture and Tourism: To promote deeper people-to-people ties, the leaders declared that 2027 will be celebrated as the "Year of Culture and Tourism between India and Italy".
- Agriculture and Traditional Medicine: Agreements were signed for cooperation in agriculture and traditional medicine, including a MoU between the All India Institute of Ayurveda and Ayurvedic Point srl Milan.
- Italy signed a MoU to participate in the development of the National Maritime Heritage Complex in Lothal, Gujarat.
- Roadmap: Appreciated the progress achieved across the diverse pillars of the Joint Strategic Action Plan 2025-2029 adopted by the two leaders in their meeting during the G20 Summit held in Rio de Janeiro in November 2024.
- Indian PM visited the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) headquarters in Rome, where he was conferred the Agricola Award in recognition of his leadership in global food security and sustainable agriculture.
Areas of convergence between India and Italy
- Economic:
- Italy is India's 4th largest trading partner in the EU.
- In 2025, bilateral trade between India and Italy reached €14.25 billion, with India maintaining a healthy trade surplus.
- Defence and Security:
- Signed the Defence Cooperation Agreement (2023) to enhance collaboration in research, industrial cooperation, and maritime domain awareness.
- Italy and India have implemented Joint Initiative to Counter Financing of Terrorism adopted in November 2025.
- Strategic alignment: Italy exited China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) in 2023 after joining it in 2019 as the only G7 member. This aligns with India's efforts to counter China's growing dominance in Europe.
- Environment and Climate: India-led initiatives joined by Italy include International Solar Alliance (ISA), Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (CDRI) and Global Biofuels Alliance (GBA).
- People-to-people ties: Italy is home to the largest Indian diaspora in the European Union.
- Both sides signed a Migration and Mobility Agreement in 2023 to facilitate temporary residence for Indian students up to 12 months after their graduation.
- Other areas: Reforms in the United Nations, Shared commitment to a free, open, peaceful and prosperous Indo-Pacific, Scientific co-operation based on 2025–2027 Executive Program for Scientific Cooperation etc.
Italy increasing focus on Indo-pacific and convergence with India
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Issues in India-Italy Relations
- Labor Exploitation: Severe exploitation of Indian laborers in Italy's agricultural sector. Many migrants fall victim to the caporalato system; a form of forced labor controlled by gang-masters who recruit cheap casual labor.
- Defence supplies to Pakistan: Italy has historically supplied weapons, including missiles and helicopters to Pakistan.
- China Dependency: Despite exiting BRI, Italy relies on China for imports and supply chains especially in textile sector, impacting India's strategic interests.
- Lack of trust: Italy's largest defence firm, Leonardo, had faced restrictions from the Indian defence ministry for nearly a decade after the VVIP helicopter scandal, restrictions are lifted, but trust remains low.
Conclusion
India and Italy can translate their strategic partnership into tangible outcomes by accelerating economic connectivity, defence cooperation, and people-to-people exchanges. They can leverage platforms such as the G20, G7, and the EU while advancing initiatives like IMEC and the Joint Strategic Action Plan.
