Prime minister Narendra Modi met his Italian counterpart Giorgio Meloni in Johannesburg on Sunday, with the two officials discussing ways to strengthen bilateral relations in several areas, including trade, investment, technology, artificial intelligence, space, defense and security.
During the meeting held on the sidelines of the G20 summit, the leaders formally adopted a joint India-Italy initiative to combat the financing of terrorism. This initiative reaffirms their joint commitment to fight terrorism globally.
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“I had a very good meeting with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni. India-Italy strategic partnership is growing from strength to strength, which is of great benefit to the people of our nations,” Modi said in a post on social media platform X after the meeting.
“Their meetings focused on deepening ties in trade, investment, technology, artificial intelligence, defense and security, space, research, innovation and culture,” Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said in a post on X.
The two leaders expressed satisfaction with the progress made on the Joint Strategic Action Plan 2025-29, a strategy expected to benefit both economies and their respective populations, the MEA spokesperson said.
Jaiswal further noted that Meloni expressed strong support for an AI summit to be hosted by India in 2026.
Trade between India and Italy is estimated to be around US$15 billion for 2023–2024, while FDI from Italy to India is around US$4 billion since 2000.
Modi holds talks with Japanese counterpart
Prime Minister Modi met his on Sunday Japanese counterpart Sanae Takaichi on the sidelines of the G20 summit and discussed bilateral cooperation in areas such as innovation, defense and talent mobility.
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“We had a productive meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi. We discussed ways to increase the momentum of bilateral cooperation in areas like innovation, defence, talent mobility and others,” PM Modi said at the X.
The two leaders also discussed ways to strengthen trade ties.
“We also seek to strengthen trade ties between our nations. A strong India-Japan partnership is vital for a better planet,” Modi added.
According to a statement issued by the MEA, the two leaders reaffirmed the importance of the India-Japan Special Strategic and Global Partnership, which is based on “civilizational connectivity, shared values, mutual goodwill and commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific”.
The leaders also emphasized their commitment to deepen the India-Japan partnership for regional and global peace, prosperity and stability, they said.
They also discussed opportunities for cooperation between India and Japan in strategic sectors and exchanged views on regional and global issues, the statement added.
