- India and Italy today inked six pacts, including on boosting cooperation in the energy and trade sectors, after extensive talks between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Italian counterpart Paolo Gentiloni on key issues such as terrorism and cyber crime.
- The two leaders also discussed ways to strengthen the bilateral political and economic relations, apart from deliberating on strategic international and regional issues.
- After the Modi-Gentiloni meeting, the two sides signed six pacts to deepen cooperation in the fields of railways sector safety, energy and promoting mutual investments, among others.
- Italy is India’s fifth largest trading partner in the EU with a bilateral trade of USD 8.79 billion in 2016-17, as per official figures.
- India’s exports to Italy were at USD 4.90 billion, while its imports were at USD 3.89 billion, resulting in a trade imbalance of USD 1 billion in favour of India. In the first four months of fiscal 2017-18, bilateral trade has reached USD 3.22 billion.
- Gentiloni’s visit is the first prime ministerial trip from Italy in more than a decade.
- The India-Italy diplomatic ties were hit badly after two Italian marines – Latorre Massimiliano and Salvatore Girone – on board a ship named Enrica Lexie, were arrested for allegedly killing two Indian fishermen off the coast of Kerala in 2012.
List of MoUs/Agreements signed during the visit of Prime Minister of Italy to India (October 30, 2017)
| S. No. | Name of MOU | Italian Signatory | Indian Signatory |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Joint Declaration of Intentof Cooperation for Safety in the Railway sector between India and Italy | Mr. Renato Mazzoncini, CEO & General Manager, ItalianRailways | Mr. Ved Pal Additional Member (Planning), Railway Board |
| 2. | MoU on 70 years of diplomaticrelations between Indian Council of Cultural Relations and Ministry of Foreign Affairs & International Cooperation, Government oftheRepublic of Italy | Mr. Lorenzo Angeloni, Ambassador of Italy to India | Ms. Riva Ganguly Das, DG ICCR |
| 3. | MoU on cooperation In the field of Energy between India and Italy | Mr. Lorenzo Angeloni, Ambassador of Italy toIndia | Mr. Anand Kumar, Secretary, MNRE |
| 4. | Executive Protocol on Cultural Cooperation between India andItaly | Mr. Lorenzo Angeloni, Ambassador of Italy to India | Ms. Reenat Sandhu, Ambassador of India to Italy |
| 5. | MoU between the Training Unit of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation. Government of theRepublic of Italy and the Foreign Service Institute of the Ministry of External Affairs, Government of the Republic of India | Mr.Lorenzo Angeloni, Ambassador of Italy to India | Mr. J. S. Mukul, Dean, FSI |
| 6. | MoU for promotingmutual investments between Italian Trade Agency and Invest India | Mr. Michele Scannavini President, Italian Trade Agency | Deepak Bagla. CEO, Invest India |
Source:PIB