Rome, May 20 (IANS) Highlighting the strategic geographic positioning of Italy and India across the Mediterranean and the Indo-Pacific respectively, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni on Wednesday underscored the importance of deepening connectivity, especially through major initiatives like the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC), which was launched during the G20 Summit in New Delhi in September 2023.

Addressing a joint press conference with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Meloni said, “We are two peninsulas, two platforms… I will just say platforms, which are projected in crucial areas of the world, the Mediterranean and the Indo-Pacific area. We think that strengthening the interconnection between these two important areas is of extreme importance. That’s the reason why we wanted to further develop IMEC, which is the infrastructure corridor, an economic corridor between Europe, the Middle East, and India, which was established during the G20 summit,” said Meloni.

“It is an initiative we strongly believe in because we think that it can unleash a potential, a wonderful potential for our trade, for our businesses and for our relations. Italy and India share a joint vision on many of the huge challenges of our times – international stability, protecting rules, economic security, the resilience of the value chains, the promotion of peace, and inclusive development,” she added.

She further said that discussions between the two leaders covered key global security challenges, including the crisis in Ukraine and Iran, reflecting a shared understanding for the need of sustained negotiations to advance peace and stability in conflict-affected regions.

“And we discussed many of the complex scenarios we are faced with. We talked about Ukraine; we talked about our commitment to achieve a lasting and fair peace. As to the Iranian crisis, we exchanged our views with a joint hope that the peace negotiations will continue and reach a positive conclusion in a framework which we know is very critical and very shaky. In both scenarios, we are increasingly interconnected, and Italy will continue to play the role,” Meloni noted.

Emphasising that Italy and India will continue to play their roles together to contribute to peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific, she underlined the significance of ensuring freedom of navigation, noting that both nations share the common vision of a free, inclusive, and open Indo-Pacific.

Both leaders on Wednesday also agreed to elevate India-Italy ties to a special strategic partnership during their bilateral meeting in Rome.

“The two leaders reviewed progress in implementation of the Joint Strategic Action Plan 2025-29 and agreed to further deepen and enrich bilateral cooperation, especially in areas including trade, investments, technology, defence, the blue economy, connectivity, education and people-to-people ties, among others. They discussed geopolitical developments and agreed to work on global issues of shared interest,” the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) stated.

–IANS

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