Prime Minister Narendra Modi thanked the Italian people and the government for a "very productive" day at the G7 Summit 2024 in Apulia.
Modi and Meloni reviewed India and Italy's bilateral Strategic Partnership and assessed the two nations' ties on defense and economic front.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi thanked the Italian people and the government for a "very productive" day at the G7 Summit 2024 in Apulia.
In his post on X, Modi said that the leaders "aim to create impactful solutions that benefit the global community and create a better world for future generations."
"I thank the people and government of Italy for their warm hospitality," he added.
Modi also held bilateral talks with his Italian counterpart Giorgia Meloni on the sidelines of the G7 Summit, where they reviewed the progress of their bilateral strategic partnership and agreed to strengthen cooperation in global fora and multilateral initiatives, including the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC).
The statement from the Ministry of External Affairs said that the two leaders noted with satisfaction the regular higher political dialogue and reviewed the progress of the India-Italy Strategic Partnership.
"While expressing happiness at growing trade and economic collaboration, they called for expanding commercial ties in clean energy, manufacturing, Space, S&T (science and tech), telecom, AI and critical minerals to build resilient supply chains," it added.
Modi and Meloni also welcomed the recent signing of a MoU on Industrial Property Rights (IPR) which provides a framework for cooperation on patents, designs and trademarks.
On the front of defense bilateral ties, both the leaders welcomed the forthcoming visit of the Italian aircraft carrier ITS Cavour and training ship ITS Vespucci to India later this year.
Addressing the famous hashtag 'Melodi', which has been created by netizens for the famous camaraderie shared by PM Modi and his Italian counter Giorgia Meloni, the latter took to Instagram and shared a video of the two. "Hello from the Melodi team!" she was heard saying in the video, while Modi laughed.
Meanwhile, the behind-the-scenes (BTS) picture of the video also went viral on social media.
Modi also took to X to write about his meeting with Meloni. He wrote "Had a very good meeting with PM @GiorgiaMeloni. Thanked her for inviting India to be a part of the G7 Summit and for the wonderful arrangements. We discussed ways to further cement India-Italy relations in areas like commerce, energy, defence, telecom and more."
"Our nations will work together in futuristic areas like biofuels, food processing and critical minerals," he added.
Reportedly, PM Modi thanked the Italian government for recognising the Indian government's contribution to the Italian campaign during World War II, informing that the nation will be upgrading the Yashwant Ghadge Memorial at Montone in Italy.
Notably, Modi also met and held talks with US President Joe Biden, Canadian PM Justin Trudeau, Pope Francis, Ukranian President Volodymyrr Zelenskyy and French President Emmanuel Macron.
In his outreach address, PM Modi spoke about converting the monopoly in technology into mass usage to lay the foundation for an inclusive society and eliminiate social inequalities. He also advocated for Artificial Intelligence (AI), saying that India will work with all countries to make AI transparent, fair, secure, accessible and responsible.
The Indian Prime Minister returned to India early on Saturday after his day-long visit to Italy for the G7 Summit.
(With agencies' input)