Italian PM Giorgia Meloni to visit India on March 2-3

NEW DELHI: Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni will pay a two-day visit to India beginning Thursday to bolster bilateral engagement in areas of defence and security, economy and technology.

It will be the first such high-level trip from Italy to India after five years. Meloni will be accompanied by Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Antonio Tajan and a high powered business delegation.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Meloni will hold wide-ranging talks on bilateral, regional and global issues, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said, announcing the visit.

Meloni will also be the Chief Guest and Keynote Speaker at the eighth Raisina Dialogue, India's premier conference on geopolitics and geoeconomics.

The Dialogue is scheduled to take place on March 3 and 4.

PM Meloni will call on President Droupadi Murmu in the afternoon of March 2.

"Prime Minister Meloni's visit is expected to further strengthen and deepen the long-standing relationship between India and Italy," the MEA said in a statement.

"Both sides will take stock of the progress on the key outcomes of the November 2020 summit, strengthen security and defence cooperation, work towards closer economic ties, enhance opportunity for mobility of talent and give strategic guidance to ongoing collaboration in science and technology," it said.

The summit in 2020 between Prime Minister Modi and his then Italian counterpart Giuseppe Conte had taken place in the virtual format.

India and Italy are celebrating 75 years of establishment of diplomatic relations this year.

"The multifaceted bilateral relationship is based on shared cultural values, commitment to foster economic growth, collaboration in the fields of green energy, science and technology, defence and marked by convergence on regional and global issues," the MEA said.

"The two countries have also been cooperating closely in various multilateral forums," it said.

It said a business roundtable will be organised on March 2 and it will be co-chaired by Tajani and India's Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal.