Tajani in India to strengthen economic, cultural and political ties. Meetings with Modi and Jaishankar
Minister Tajani's visit includes meetings with Modi and Jaishankar, sports agreements, cultural initiatives and a business forum with major Indian companies and funds
From our correspondent
NEW DELHI - Confirming the increasingly intense and articulated relations between Italy and India, Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani will be in Delhi today and Mumbai tomorrow for a mission, the second in less than eight months, which will bring together economics, politics, culture and sport. The first leg of the trip, to the Indian capital, will have a strong institutional connotation, but not only. Today, Tajani will meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi to "reaffirm the growth trajectory of Italian-Indian relations in the framework of the Strategic Partnership launched in 2023", while in his talks with Foreign Minister S. Jaishankar, he will take stock of the implementation of the 2025-29 Joint Strategic Action Plan and define the next objectives in the priority areas of cooperation. In the meeting with the National Security Advisor, Ajit Doval, Tajani will elaborate on the prospects of cooperation between the two countries on the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor (Imec), as well as shorter-term operational initiatives, such as the creation of a fast-track corridor for customs clearance of goods.
However, the day in New Delhi will not be monopolised by politics. In the morning, Tajani will attend the signing ceremony of a memorandum of understanding between CONI and the Indian Olympic Association to strengthen cooperation between the Olympic committees and national sports federations of the two countries. Later, after inaugurating an exhibition around the treasures of the Oriental Collection of the Museum of Civilisations in Rome, the minister will participate in the work of the Unesco Committee that will decide today on the inscription of Italian cuisine in the List of Intangible Heritage of Humanity.
The mission will continue tomorrow in Mumbai, where the morning will be devoted to the world of finance with a meeting at the National Stock Exchange with representatives of some of India's leading funds such as Icici Prudential, Kotak Mahindra, Sbi Fund Management and Axis Mutual Fund. In the afternoon, Tajani will chair with the Minister of Trade and Industry, Piyush Goyal, the Italy-India Business Forum, the first in Mumbai and the third in 2025 after the ones in New Delhi last April and the one in Brescia in June. The Forum, which will be attended by almost 200 companies, aims to increase industrial cooperation in the automotive, renewable energy, sports technology and agrifood sectors. Participants will include Cdp, Simest, Sace, Ice and Confindustria. Later in the day, Tajani will meet the chairmen of three of India's largest conglomerates: Natarajan Chandrasekaran (Tata Group), Kumar Mangalam Birla (Aditya Birla Group) and Prakash Hinduja (Europe's number one of the Hinduja Group). The Business Forum also includes meetings with a representation of the growing number of Indian unicorns including Zetwerk (manufacturing), Paytm (mobile payment services) and EaseMyTrip (tourism).
