India’s defence partnership with Italy, one of the key European states and member of G-7, is being revived and got a major boost during Nov 6 Summit. Elaborating on achievements of the Summit, Italian envoy to India Vincenzo de Luca told ET’s Dipanjan Roy Chaudhury that Italian defence firms are ready to explore possible avenues of cooperation in the field of joint production or technology transfer. He also emphasised that Rome wants to foster stronger cooperation between the Mediterranean and the Indian Ocean as part of its Indo-Pacific vision.
It was a landmark summit. 15 pacts and new areas of cooperation. What does it mean for Indo-Italy partnership?
The Virtual Summit between President Conte and Prime Minister Modi marks an important milestone in the bilateral relations between the two countries. The two leaders had a thorough exchange that ranged from global, regional and bilateral issues. They focused on further enhancing economic relations and strengthening cultural and scientific ties. The true added value of the meeting was the adoption of the Joint Declaration and the Plan of Action which contains the priority areas and strategic goals on which our bilateral partnership for the period 2020-2025 will be based upon. As far as our cooperation in the multilateral arena is concerned, we have a very important opportunity in the next two years, as Italy and India will hold consecutive Presidencies of the G20. In this context, we committed to coordinate our activities and set common priorities to strengthen the impact and relevance of our legacy.
The two PMs referred to Indo-Pacific partnership. What is Italy’s plan for an Indo-Pacific strategy?
A sustainable economic recovery after the Covid crisis will be achieved only through the activation of solid and reliable global supply chains and enhanced connectivity. In this framework, the Indo-Pacific region will play a fundamental role, since through its sea-lanes a great deal of the world’s trade and energy resources exchanges are operated. The Mediterranean Sea and the Indian Ocean overlap, connecting seamlessly Europe, Africa and Asia. For this reason, many actors are interested in ensuring that the connection among these regions is built on a rules-based international order, rule of law, sustainable and transparent infrastructure investment and freedom of navigation.
Synopsis
As far as our cooperation in the multilateral arena is concerned, we have a very important opportunity in the next two years, as Italy and India will hold consecutive Presidencies of the G20. In this context, we committed to coordinate our activities and set common priorities to strengthen the impact and relevance of our legacy.
Source(s): economictimes, defenceavaiationpost