Economic ties, connectivity take centre stage at Italian Deputy PM Tajani's meetings with Indian leadership

New Delhi, Dec 10 (PTI) Combining India's strengths in manufacturing and scale with Italian technology, connectivity and maritime security were among the major issues discussed by Italian Deputy Prime Minister Antonio Tajani with top Indian leadership including Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday.

Tajani, who is also the foreign minister, is on a three-day visit to India.

He is accompanied by a large business delegation.

Tajani met Modi, and held wide-ranging talks with External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and National Security Adviser Ajit Doval.

Connectivity, including the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC), and maritime security came up in the meeting between Tajani and Modi, people familiar with the meeting said.

In a social media post, PM Modi said he was "delighted" to meet Tajani.

"Conveyed appreciation for the proactive steps being taken by both sides towards implementation of the Italy-India Joint Strategic Action Plan 2025-2029 across key sectors such as trade, investment, research, innovation, defence, space, connectivity, counter-terrorism, education and people-to-people ties," he said.

"India-Italy friendship continues to get stronger, greatly benefiting our people and the global community," Modi said.

In the meeting with Modi, the Indian side also underlined the need to marry India's workforce and manufacturing capabilities with Italian technology, the people cited above said.

In a social media post, Jaishankar said he and Tajani reviewed progress in the spheres of politics, defence, technology, innovation, maritime issues, mobility, space, trade and investment under the India-Italy Joint Strategic Action Plan for 2025-29.

"Also appreciated joint efforts to counter terror financing," Jaishankar said. "Dwelt on our cooperation with the EU, other regional, global and multilateral developments." In his opening remarks at the meeting with Tajani, Jaishankar said the relations between the two sides are built on democratic values and a commitment to a stable, secure and prosperous world.

Jaishankar also thanked Tajani for the message of solidarity from the Italian government following the terror incident in New Delhi last month.

The external affairs minister also referred to India and Italy announcing a joint initiative to counter terror financing when Modi met Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Johannesburg last month.

India considers Italy as one of its closest partners for counter-terrorism, including in the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), he said.

"Of course, recently when our prime ministers met in the G20 in Johannesburg, we announced the joint initiative to counter financing of terrorism-- that was a very positive step," Jaishankar said.

"We work with Italy, and regard you as one of our closest partners, including in the FATF - the Financial Action Task Force," he said Jaishankar and Tajani also discussed regional and global issues, including the situation in West Asia and the Ukraine conflict. PTI MPB KVK KVK