India, Italy agree to take forward IMEEC initiative

Tajani, also the Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, is on a two-day visit to India from Friday.

During the delegation-level talks, Jaishankar and Tajani reviewed the growing bilateral cooperation under the ambit of JSAP, which included the areas of trade and investment, defence and security, space, science and technology, clean energy transition and people-to-people ties, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said Saturday.

It said the two ministers noted the vast potential of India-Italy cooperation in areas of AI, cyber, telecom, digital technologies, renewable energy, biofuels, education and mobility of youth and professionals, among others.

The JSAP was announced by PM Narendra Modi and Italian PM Giorgia Meloni following their last November meeting at Rio de Janeiro.

Jaishankar and Tajani reiterated their commitment to elevating the bilateral strategic partnership and ensuring concrete outcomes from the JSAP, the MEA said in a statement.

It added that the visit and engagements of Tajani were instrumental in taking forward the strategic partnership and diversifying bilateral cooperation across domains as per the JSAP.

The two ministers also exchanged views on global and regional developments of mutual interest with Jaishankar welcoming Italy’s continued focus on the Indo-Pacific.

Jaishankar and Tajani renewed their commitment to take forward the strategic initiative IMEEC, according to the MEA. In this context, the Jaishankar welcomed Italy’s appointment of a special envoy for IMEEC.