New Delhi – Italy intends to grow trade with India to €20 billion by 2029 from the current level of about €14 billion, and Italian investments into the country were up by €500 million during the first half of 2025 alone, Italian deputy prime minister and foreign minister Antonio Tajani said ahead of a visit to New Delhi, his second this year.
Tajani, who is set to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi and external affairs minister S Jaishankar during his visit, said in an interview that Italy fully backs an ambitious free trade agreement between India and the European Union (EU). Expressing confidence in a “positive result”, he said there is “too much at stake to miss this opportunity”.
What are the areas of focus for your visit?
India is a strategic partner for Italy. With my visit, I intend to provide further impetus to cooperation at large. Innovation will be a protagonist. Italy and India will launch a concrete initiative – a centre will be created to foster structured dialogue between start-up companies and research clusters [and to serve as] a platform for collaborations in artificial intelligence, quantum technologies and more.
Boosting trade and investments will be another key focus. On Thursday, we will have the third Italy-India Business Forum in a year to stimulate synergies in specific sectors such as automotive components, agri-food industry and waste-to-energy.
Political dialogue will be high on the visit’s agenda. It is the precondition for advancing our relations. We aim to work closely with India on security, defence and connectivity, but also on people-to people, mobility and culture. In sport, our two Olympic Associations will sign an MoU to explore concrete collaborations between federations and sport industries.
The Joint Strategic Action Plan for 2025-29 signed by the two PMs last year identifies 10 areas of common interest. Where has cooperation advanced the most?
The Joint Action Plan is the roadmap for bilateral cooperation. We are making headway in all areas. We have intensified visits and political interactions. Prime Ministers Modi and Meloni have met six times in three years. In Johannesburg, they adopted a joint initiative to combat terror financing. Our Export Credit Agency’s guarantees for Indian buyers of Made-in-Italy products exceed €2 billion, and digital platforms enable direct contacts between economic operators. In space, we launched a G2G dialogue in September. In science, we signed two MoUs in April on research cooperation and started a dialogue between universities and research institutes. We are working on joint projects in agriculture, ports, connectivity and mobility.
What are Italy’s expectations from the FFA being negotiated by the European Union and India?
Italy fully supports the conclusion of an ambitious and mutually beneficial FTA. The EU and India have made significant progress in negotiations over recent months. Now we are approaching the finishing line and I am confident of a positive result. There is too much at stake to miss this opportunity. The FTA will encourage more Italian companies – particularly SMEs, the backbone of our industry – to approach India’s market.
What is the progress in the defence and security sector?
We are working on a roadmap focused on co-production and co-development of defence platforms and equipment Five Italian military vessels have paid port calls in India in the past 24 months. We are increasing joint exercises in the Indian Ocean and we will enhance our dialogue on maritime security.
Italy is one of the strongest proponents of the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC), though key players such as Egypt believe this project cannot proceed till the Palestinian issue is resolved. What are your views?
IMEC is a visionary project with a medium-to-long term realisation perspective. It is poised to be a driver for stabilisation in the Middle East, fostering growth and shared economic opportunities. Italy and India have been for ages two natural terminals in the common Indo-Mediterranean area, tied by an intense exchange of trade, goods, skills and ideas. Before, it was called Golden Road, today it is IMEC. Our government is committed to closely coordinating with India on this initiative.
