Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived in Italy on Wednesday for the concluding phase of his five-nation visit. He received a warm welcome from his Italian counterpart Giorgia Meloni, who greeted him with a social media post saying, “Welcome to Rome, my friend!” During his visit, the Prime Minister will hold meetings with Italian President Sergio Mattarella and engage in bilateral discussions with Meloni. His schedule also includes a series of diplomatic meetings before he returns to India on Wednesday.
Focus on IMEC and boosting bilateral ties
In a post on X, PM Modi said the visit aims to strengthen cooperation between the two nations through the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC). “Landed in Rome, Italy. I will be meeting President Sergio Mattarella and Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and holding discussions with them,” he added.
PM Modi further said the discussions will focus on boosting India-Italy relations with a special emphasis on the IMEC partnership. The leaders are also expected to review the Joint Strategic Action Plan 2025 2029.
Engagement with FAOย
PM Modi stated that he will visit the headquarters of the Food and Agriculture Organisationย (FAO)ย to reaffirm India’s commitment to multilateralism and global food security. This engagement highlights India’s growing role in international cooperation on sustainable food systems and agricultural development.
Deepening economic and strategic collaboration
The visit comes at a time when India and Italy are expanding their partnership across sectors such as trade, investment, defence, clean energy, innovation and technology under the Joint Strategic Action Plan 2025 2029. Official figures show that bilateral trade between the two nations touched 16.77 billion dollars in 2025, while Italy’s cumulative foreign direct investment in India reached 3.66 billion dollars between April 2000 and September 2025.
This marks PM Modi’s first bilateral visit to Italy although he previously travelled to the country for the G7 Summit in 2024 and the G20 Summit three years before that. Experts believe the current visit is expected to further strengthen India-Italy ties and open new avenues of cooperation.
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