For the third time during my tenure as Minister of Foreign Affairs, I am undertaking a visit to India: two days of high-level meetings in New Delhi and Mumbai of significant political, economic and cultural relevance. India is becoming an increasingly strategic partner for Italy. The world’s most populous democracy — 1.4 billion people, 65% of them under the age of 35 — is a cradle of religions and civilisations. With annual growth of 7%, it is the fastest-growing G20 economy and is set to become the world’s third-largest economy. It already ranks third globally in the number of billionaires and of start-ups valued at over one billion dollars and is the fourth nation to land on the Moon.
My mission takes place at a particularly delicate moment in international affairs. Global media have broadcast images of the recent meeting between Prime Minister Modi and President Putin. I will convey to the Indian Prime Minister the greetings of Prime Minister Meloni, with whom he shares a very close and productive relationship. I will also deliver a firm message in favour of dialogue, with the aim of achieving a just and lasting peace — in Ukraine, as in the wider Middle East, a region central to our shared interests.
In this context, I will discuss IMEC with my counterparts: a key economic and logistical corridor for the growth of our exports, and one in which the Government has decided to invest significantly. Our goal is to connect the European market — through Trieste and the Adriatic, the Balkans and North African countries — with the Gulf and India, linking the Mediterranean and the Indo-Pacific. Simplified and digital customs procedures and the Blue & Raman submarine cable, a high-speed data link between Genoa and Mumbai, are also part of this vision.
As I did recently in Riyadh, I will inaugurate in Mumbai — India’s financial capital — a major business forum bringing together hundreds of Italian and Indian companies. This marks our third engagement with India this year alone, following meetings in New Delhi in April and in Brescia in June. I will meet talented innovators, small and medium-sized enterprises and major industrial groups, all eager to share ideas, projects and business initiatives. I will also open the session of the Stock Exchange, the world’s fourth largest by capitalisation, to underline the crucial role of finance in supporting economic growth and innovation.
More than 700 Italian companies are already operating in India, and more are looking towards a market representing one-sixth of humanity and offering vast opportunities for our SMEs and their advanced technologies. Further momentum will come from the conclusion of an EU–India free trade agreement, which we strongly support, and from the instruments deployed by the Italian System: a 500-million-euro credit line for internationalisation and joint ventures in India, loan guarantees for Indian buyers of Made in Italy products worth over EUR 2 billion and digital platforms enabling direct links between economic operators.
We aim to increase our bilateral trade from EUR 14 to 20 billion and to boost investment — particularly from India into Italy, in sectors such as energy, data centres, hospitality and more. There is ample scope for joint work in machinery, advanced manufacturing and agriculture, the circular economy, infrastructure and mobility, the automotive supply chain, defence and space, and sports technologies. The President of CONI will sign an agreement in Delhi with the Indian Olympic Committee, paving the way for joint initiatives among federations and enhanced cooperation among sector-specific companies.
India has the potential to become a global technological leader. Today, 900 million Indians make direct mobile payments. The Madras Institute of Technology has generated 417 patents this year alone — more than one a day. And the Indian Government has just launched a 10-billion-dollar research and development fund focused on artificial intelligence, quantum technologies, biotechnology, advanced materials, space and cyber security. These are the domains in which productivity, competitiveness and national security will be defined.
For this reason, I will announce the establishment of an Innovation Centre in India, designed to foster closer cooperation between our two ecosystems: start-ups, major high-tech companies, universities and research institutes.
Our partnership extends beyond economic interests to culture. Italy and India are heirs to ancient civilisations that have been in dialogue for centuries. “Shared Stories” — the title of the exhibition I will inaugurate in Delhi — presents a selection of precious works, including several from Italian museums, illustrating the deep mutual influences across the Indo-Mediterranean space. It is a reminder that IMEC existed as far back as the time of Emperor Augustus — and that art still bears witness to it. Italy can offer its expertise and technology in the enhancement of cultural heritage and in the development of new museums.
As in the past, today too we aim to grow together. More Italy in India, and more India in Italy. This is our objective: a future of peace, shared prosperity and technological innovation at the service of people.
