Italian Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani began a two-day official visit to India on Friday, aimed at deepening bilateral ties and fostering partnerships across a wide range of sectors. The visit marked a significant step forward in strengthening the strategic relationship between the two countries, with high-level meetings and joint engagements underscoring mutual interests. In a joint press conference held in New Delhi, India’s Union Minister for Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal announced that India and Italy are working to elevate their existing strategic partnership into a comprehensive strategic relationship. Goyal highlighted that the enhanced collaboration is expected to significantly boost bilateral trade, which currently stands at $15 billion.
“There are numerous areas of cooperation between the two countries, including business, science, technology, innovation, and education,” Goyal said. He noted that both nations reaffirmed their deep-rooted ties and are cooperating on global initiatives such as the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor and the Global Biofuels Alliance.
Goyal also stated that negotiations are actively underway for an India-EU Free Trade Agreement, which would further enhance trade and investment flows between India and European nations, including Italy. He identified sectors like tourism, space technology, defense production, and shipbuilding as holding significant potential for bilateral cooperation, even beyond conventional trade. Deputy Prime Minister Tajani echoed Goyal’s sentiments, calling the day “a very important day for cooperation between India and Italy.” He confirmed that both sides held positive political meetings and expressed a strong interest in expanding economic cooperation. Speaking at the “Italy-India Business, Science and Technology Forum,” Tajani emphasized Italy’s intent to invest more in India, increase exports, and attract Indian investments into the Italian economy.
“India is an economy with enormous potential, and we are committed to deepening our collaboration,” Tajani said. He described India as a key partner in ensuring stability in the Indo-Pacific region, which he identified as crucial for global trade. “Italy and India are natural economic partners. Our bilateral trade has surpassed $14 billion, and we want to take this further,” he added. Tajani pointed to innovation, artificial intelligence, supercomputing, space technology, and defence as high-opportunity sectors for future joint ventures and partnerships. These areas, he suggested, represent the future of India-Italy collaboration.
Reinforcing these views at the forum, Piyush Goyal stressed the untapped potential of the bilateral trade relationship. He emphasized the need for seamless cooperation, increased investment facilitation, and the removal of business barriers. Goyal projected that India’s economy would expand from $4 trillion to between $30–35 trillion by 2047, aligning with the vision of Viksit Bharat. “This makes India a compelling case for deeper engagement with the European Union, particularly with Italy,” Goyal said. He also highlighted new sectors for collaboration, including fashion, luxury goods, food processing, pharmaceuticals, green technology, advanced manufacturing, and automobiles.
Goyal called the forum a timely platform to advance the Joint Strategic Action Plan 2025–29, which was launched by Prime Ministers Narendra Modi and Giorgia Meloni in November 2024. Describing the plan as an “ambitious, forward-looking roadmap,” he noted its focus on trade, investment, and innovation. India’s External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar also weighed in on the partnership, emphasizing the synergy between India’s economic trajectory and the technological strengths of Italian industry. “Make in India today offers a powerful platform for this partnership to flourish,” he said.
The visit of Deputy Prime Minister Tajani signals a clear intent from both nations to transform their strategic alignment into a robust and future-oriented partnership, built on shared values, economic opportunity, and mutual respect.
