ROME — Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Italy’s Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni agreed on May 20 to raise the India-Italy Strategic Partnership to a Special Strategic Partnership, pledging closer cooperation across defence, trade, technology and culture.
The leaders said they would hold annual leader-level meetings, including on the sidelines of multilateral events, and set up regular ministerial and institutional dialogues. They also established a Foreign Minister–level mechanism to review the Joint Strategic Action Plan 2025–2029.
Modi and Meloni reviewed progress across the plan and committed to deepen collaboration in trade and investment, defence and security, science and technology, space, energy, artificial intelligence, semiconductors and other critical technologies. They agreed to expand research and innovation ties, bolster commercial space cooperation between the Indian Space Research Organisation and the Italian Space Agency, and promote workforce and skills synergies.
Both prime ministers welcomed stronger economic engagement and growing investment linkages, noting three business forums held last year and meetings with CEOs from defence, digital, energy transition, infrastructure and logistics sectors. They reaffirmed a shared target to raise bilateral trade to €20 billion by 2029 and urged early implementation of the India–EU Free Trade Agreement to unlock further opportunities.
On defence, the two sides endorsed enhanced ministerial interactions, port visits and force-level exchanges, and signed a Joint Declaration of Intent plus an industrial roadmap to pursue co-design, co-development and co-production of defence systems. They also pledged continued cooperation to counter terrorism and implement measures to combat terrorist financing adopted in November 2025.
The leaders agreed to promote people-to-people ties by facilitating mobility for students, researchers and academics, and designated 2027 as the Year of Culture and Tourism between India and Italy. They welcomed memoranda of understanding on collaboration for the National Maritime Heritage Complex at Lothal and on recruitment of Indian nurses.
Both leaders stressed infrastructure and connectivity ambitions, reaffirming support for the India–Middle East–Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC). They exchanged views on regional and global issues including the Indo-Pacific, India–EU relations and conflicts in West Asia and Europe, stressing diplomacy for peaceful resolution. Modi thanked Italy for its hospitality and invited Meloni to visit India at a mutually convenient time.