Relations with South Asia
Central and South Asia is a region with huge potential for economic development and growing geopolitical relevance. Italy can boast a diplomatic-consular network in the region that includes the Embassies in New Delhi (India, also responsible for Nepal); Islamabad (Pakistan), Colombo (Sri Lanka, also responsible for the Maldives) and Dhaka (Bangladesh). In India there are Italian Consulates in Mumbai, Calcutta and Bangalore, and in Pakistan in Karachi, in addition to ICE offices in New Delhi and Mumbai.
Italy and India are committed to an all-round relaunch of bilateral relations, in the wake of the “2020-2024 Action Plan”. In 2021 we set a new trade record and Italian investment in India keeps on growing, especially in the infrastructure, renewable energy, automotive and agri-food technology sectors. On October 29, 2021, Prime Minister Modi and Prime Minister Draghi announced the launch of a “Strategic Partnership on Energy Transition”.
Italy is also committed to strengthening bilateral relations with other countries in the region. The ties between Italy and Pakistan are very solid and before the pandemic our trade exceeded the value of 1.4 billion euros. Textiles and leather-footwear are particularly important sectors for Italian-Pakistani industrial cooperation.
The year 2022 will mark the 50th anniversary of relations between Italy and Bangladesh, a country with which our trade – mainly oriented to the textile sector – exceeded 2 billion euros per year before the pandemic.
We can also boast friendly relations with Sri Lanka, with which trade in 2018 and 2019 stood at just below 700 million euros.