Prime Minister Narendra Modi met Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi and top leaders of the European Union in Rome on Friday, ahead of the G20 Summit on Saturday. India and Italy are likely to come up with a joint document on “energy transitions” which will focus on cooperation in non-renewable energy, sources told The Indian Express. Modi and Draghi held extensive talks on diversifying India-Italy ties. The Prime Minister will meet Pope Francis on Saturday. He is also likely to meet French President Emmanuel Macron and Indonesian President Joko Widodo. At the meeting between Modi and EU leaders, the two sides discussed deepening the India-EU friendship, particularly in areas such as trade, commerce, culture, and the environment. The Prime Minister, who arrived in Rome earlier in the day, began his official engagements with a “productive interaction” with the president of the European Council, Charles Michel, and president of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen. Good to meet @narendramodi. Our 🇪🇺🇮🇳 strategic agenda is on the right track. We agreed that our trade negotiators will start to work. We‘ll deepen our cooperation on climate including on innovation & technology Looking forward to cooperating in the Indo-Pacific #EUGlobalGateway pic.twitter.com/O0niKM85E3 — Ursula von der Leyen (@vonderleyen) October 29, 2021 "Official engagements in Rome begin with a productive interaction with @eucopresident Charles Michel and @vonderleyen, President of the @EU_Commission. The leaders discussed ways to enhance economic as well as people-to-people linkages aimed at creating a better planet,” the Prime Minister's Office tweeted. Later, Modi described his meeting with the EU leaders as “wonderful”. "Wonderful meeting with @EU_Commission President @vonderleyen and @eucopresident Charles Michel. We had wide-ranging talks on deepening the India-EU friendship, particularly in areas such as trade, commerce, culture and the environment,” Modi tweeted. In a tweet, Michel said: "India has a key role to play in the green transition. We discussed global health and fighting the pandemic, the strong EU-India Strategic Partnership, the situation in Afghanistan and the Indo-Pacific” (where China is flexing its muscles). Leyen tweeted: “Good to meet @narendramodi. Our strategic agenda is on the right track. We agreed that our trade negotiators will start to work. We‘ll deepen our cooperation on climate including on innovation & technology. Looking forward to cooperating in the Indo-Pacific.” She also congratulated India for its “excellent progress” on vaccination against Covid-19, and for resuming vaccine exports. “We need to join forces to help vaccinate the world and beat the global pandemic,” Leyen said. India crossed a major milestone in its vaccination programme after cumulatively administering a billion doses to its citizens last week. After the Prime Minister's meeting with the European leaders, Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said there had been “extensive discussion” on a number of key issues. "Deepening ties between India and EU! PM @narendramodi met European Council President Charles Michel @eucopresident & European Commission President @vonderleyen. An extensive discussion covering trade & investment ties, climate change, COVID-19, global & regional developments,” Bagchi said on Twitter. The MEA said in a statement that the leaders recalled their “productive virtual engagements in the form of India-EU Leaders’ meeting in the form of EU+27 in May 2021 and 15th India EU Summit in July, 2020". "During the meeting, leaders of India and EU reviewed India-EU cooperation covering political & security relations, trade & investment and economic cooperation as well as the Roadmap2025 agreed at the last India-EU Summit”. They also discussed climate change, Covid-19 pandemic and contemporary global and regional developments of interest to both sides, the statement said. Later, Modi paid floral tributes at a bust of Mahatma Gandhi. "In Rome, I had the opportunity to pay homage to Mahatma Gandhi, whose ideals give courage and inspiration to millions globally,” Modi said.
