Multilateral subjects set to top talks with Italy: 

Multilateral subjects set to top talks with Italy: 

Context:

India’s push for membership of the Nuclear Suppliers Group and bilateral trade are likely to be on the agenda during the visit of Italian Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni.

Introduction:

• The visit marks the end of a chill in ties that set in 2012 after the killing of two Indian fishermen by a pair of Italian marines off the coast of Kerala.
• The visit, comes after both sides managed to contain the diplomatic fallout of the marine crisis.

Purpose of visit:

• The visit is aimed at strengthening the bilateral political and economic relations between the two countries.
• India’s push for membership of the Nuclear Suppliers Group and bilateral trade are likely to be on the agenda during the visit.
• Italy and India are planning to strengthen cooperation to fight terrorism.

Natural partners:

• Italy’s support for India’s candidature at the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR) in 2016 was an important marker in multilateral collaboration and indicated Rome’s long-term commitment to supporting India’s role in the export control regimes.
• Italian supportive role in the EU and NSG will help our cause with the EU-India FTA (Free Trade Agreement) and out bid for NSG membership.
• India’s bid for membership at the NSG has so far been scuttled by repeated opposition from China.
• Apart from the NSG, India is also seeking Italian support at the FATF (Financial Action Task Force) meeting that begins on Monday in Buenos Aires, where India has been pushing for stringent measures against Pakistan on terror funding issues.

A difficult phase:

• The visit by an Italian PM comes after a decade. The period from 2012 to 2016 marked a difficult bilateral phase as the marines issue, which included two of Rome’s marines became a national debate in Italy.
• The case is now with the International Court of Justice, where a round of arbitral proceedings is expected to be completed by 2018.
• However, several meetings were held between the two sides as political ties warmed up following the change of government in Delhi in 2014.
• In July 2017, Prime Minister Narendra Modi met Mr. Gentiloni on the sidelines of G20 summit in Hamburg.
• Apart from the expected issues, Italy and India may also discuss the tension between the U.S. and Iran after President Donald Trump decertified the nuclear deal with Iran, where both Italy and India have strong contacts.
• As one of the signatories in the nuclear deal, Italy’s role is crucial in this matter.

Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG):

• NSG is a group of nuclear supplier countries that seek to prevent nuclear proliferation by controlling the export of materials, equipment and technology that can be used to manufacture nuclear weapons.
• Guidelines for the group were published in 1978 by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), which were to be applied to nuclear transfers for peaceful purposes to help ensure that such transfers would not fall victim to a harmful nuclear fuel cycle or be used in nuclear explosive activities.
• The aim of the NSG Guidelines is to ensure that nuclear trade for peaceful purposes does not pave way to the proliferation of nuclear weapons or other nuclear explosive devices, and that international trade and cooperation in the nuclear field is not hindered unjustly in the process.
• The NSG Guidelines facilitate the development of trade in this area by providing the means whereby obligations to facilitate peaceful nuclear cooperation can be implemented in a manner consistent with international nuclear non-proliferation norms.

Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR):

• The Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR) is a multilateral export control regime.
• It is an informal and voluntary partnership among 35 countries to prevent the proliferation of missile and unmanned aerial vehicle technology capable of carrying above 500 kg payload for more than 300 km.
• The MTCR was established in April 1987 by the G7 countries: Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States of America.
• The MTCR was created in order to curb the spread of unmanned delivery system for nuclear weapons.
• MTCR is a group of nations which controls the transfer of missiles and related technology and keeps a check on its proliferation.

India-Italy relations:

• Italy is India’s fifth largest trading partner in the European Union (EU) with a bilateral trade of $8.79 billion in 2016-17, according to Indian figures.
• There are more than 600 Italian companies with offices in India in areas ranging from fashion to textiles and textile machinery, auto components, energy and insurance.
• Italy also has a sizeable population of expatriate Indians numbering almost 200,000.
• India and Italy are fighting against terrorism and both the nations are committed against climate change.
• India’s exports to Italy are at $4.90 billion, while its imports are at $3.89 billion, resulting in a trade imbalance of $1 billion in favour of India. In the first four months of 2017-18 fiscal, bilateral trade has reached $3.22 billion.
• Both the nations share common democratic values and share a rule-based approach to the international system.
• Ties between the business communities held strong over the years, creating solid bridges between Italy and India.
• Italy is among top defence manufacturers in Europe.
• Hundreds of Italian companies are in India and are also part of the Make-in-India initiative .
• Other sectors include renewable energy and green technologies — key assets on the way toward sustainable growth and development.
• India and Italy have shared efforts to have a signed declaration on terrorism at the G20 Hamburg Summit.

Strain in ties:

• The strain in bilateral India-Italy ties—caused by the arrest of the two Italian marines—had spilled over on relations between India and the EU, India’s largest trading partner and a key source of investment.
• India-Italy ties ran aground after the two marines, Latorre Massimiliano and Salvatore Girone, were arrested on charges of killing Indian fishermen, mistaking them to be pirates.
• Italy contested India’s charge that the ship that the marines were on the Enrica Lexie was in Indian waters at the time of shooting.
• The Italian government was of the view that since the ship was in international waters, only the International Tribunal for the Law of the sea could apply, questioning the Indian government’s jurisdiction over the case.