Rome, June 10 (IANS) Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni on Wednesday congratulated her Indian counterpart Narendra Modi on becoming his country’s longest-serving elected PM and expressed readiness to work with him in creating new opportunities for the people of the two nations.

PM Modi on Wednesday became India’s longest-serving Prime Minister, marking 12 years at the helm of the Central government. He crossed former Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru’s record with 4,399 days in office as an elected Prime Minister.

Extending wishes to PM Modi, Meloni, in a post on X, wrote, “Congratulations to Narendra Modi who today becomes the longest-serving elected Prime Minister in the history of India. It has been a pleasure to meet again in Rome in recent weeks and to launch together a Special Strategic Partnership that looks to the future to create new opportunities for our Nations and our peoples.”

Earlier in May, PM Modi made a two-day official visit to Italy, where he held talks with both Meloni and President Sergio Mattarella.

During their meeting, PM Modi and Meloni decided to elevate bilateral ties to the level of a Special Strategic Partnership. The two leaders welcomed the “strong momentum” of high-level exchanges and agreed to hold annual meetings of leaders, including on the sidelines of multilateral events, as well as regular ministerial and institutional-level meetings.

Both leaders engaged in comprehensive discussions covering the entire gamut of the India-Italy partnership, according to the statement released by the Prime Minister’s Office. They also reviewed the progress made in bilateral cooperation across all domains of the Joint Strategic Action Plan 2025-2029, agreeing to further expand collaboration in trade and investment, defence and security, science and technology, research and innovation, space, energy, AI and critical technologies, education, culture and people-to-people ties.

PMs Modi and Meloni also expressed satisfaction with deepening defence cooperation through ministerial and official interactions, exchange of port visits, and regular engagement of defence forces. They welcomed the signing of the Joint Declaration of Intent, and an Industrial Roadmap for collaboration in co-design, co-development and co-production of defence products.

PM Modi also attended a dinner hosted by Meloni and the two leaders also visited the iconic Colosseum in Rome.

PM Modi presented a light-hearted and unique gift — a “Melody” toffee packet– to Meloni, bringing back the widely popular “#Melodi” moment that has often gone viral on social media. The informal exchange, marked by laughter between the two leaders, was later shared by the Italian PM on Instagram, where she also spoke about the gesture and the gift received from the Indian Prime Minister.

Sharing the video of the moment, Meloni said, “Prime Minister Modi brought us a gift — a very, very good toffee — Melody”. “Thank you for the gift.”

The “Melodi” phenomenon — a portmanteau combining the names of Prime Ministers Modi and Meloni — has become a recurring viral trend online, reflecting the visible personal rapport and friendly exchanges between the two leaders during various international engagements.

The term has frequently been used by social media users to highlight their light-hearted interactions at global platforms, often turning into viral moments that generate memes, discussions and widespread online engagement, while also symbolising a perceived strengthening of India-Italy relations.

–IANS

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