India and Italy to negotiate defence industrial road map, focus on maritime sector

News: On the sidelines of G-20 summit, India and Italy announced a five-year Joint Strategic Action Plan 2025-29 to enhance cooperation in key sectors like defence, connectivity, trade, energy transition.

1. On defence front, India and Italy agreed to negotiate a defence industrial road map, hold joint defence consultative meetings and cooperate on mutual exchange of classified information.

2. There was focus on enhancing interoperability and cooperation between the armed forces in the Indo-Pacific Region, given Italy’s growing interest in the region.

3. India and Italy had already signed a Defence Cooperation Agreement in 2023.

4. On the connectivity front, the two countries focussed on increasing collaboration in maritime and land infrastructure. The focus was also laid on connectivity projects like India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor.

5. In the domain of economic cooperation, though Italy is India’s fourth largest trading partner within the EU, but there is great potential to boost volume of trade and investment.

6. The two countries emphasised on just energy transition by strengthening the Global Biofuel Alliance and International Solar Alliance.