Italian PM Giorgia Meloni lauded strengthening India-Italy ties during PM Modi's historic Rome visit, speaking Hindi to highlight their "Special Strategic Partnership" and setting a new €20 billion trade target.
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni on Wednesday flaunted her Hindi-speaking skills using the phrase "parishram hi safalta ki kunji hai", meaning "hard work is the key to success", underlining the strengthening relationship between India and Italy during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's landmark visit to Rome.
Meloni Hails 'Defining Moment' in India-Italy Ties
Addressing a joint press statement alongside PM Modi, Meloni said India-Italy ties have entered a historic phase, describing the visit as a "defining moment" that has further elevated bilateral relations to a "Special Strategic Partnership."
"There is an Indian word which states that very well, which is 'Parishram'. 'Parishram', which means hard work, constant commitment, fatigue; a word which I know is very often used in India, and it is often used in a very popular way of saying, 'Parishram hi safalta ki kunji hai', which means tough work is the key to success. And we are used to building our relations in this way, with hard work which becomes success at the end," Meloni said, adding that sustained effort and commitment had been central to strengthening ties between the two countries.
Elevating Partnership: Diplomatic and Economic Milestones
She noted that PM Modi's visit marked the first bilateral visit by an Indian Prime Minister to Italy in over two decades, calling it a milestone that has revitalised diplomatic engagement between New Delhi and Rome.
"My friend Narendra Modi has been leading India since 2014, but today, this is his first bilateral mission to Italy. The last visit of an Indian Prime Minister on a bilateral mission prior to this one dates back to the year 2000, 26 years ago. And today with this visit, not only are we bridging this gap, but together we have decided to revitalise our relations," Meloni said.
"It was a very swift journey. In 2023, I travelled to New Delhi and on that occasion, we launched our Strategic Partnership. The next year, in 2024, during the G20 summit in Brazil, we met with the Prime Minister and we signed our Strategic Joint Action Plan 2025-2029. And today here in Rome, we are further strengthening our relation all the way up to the Special Strategic Partnership, the highest ever reached in the relations between our two nations," she added.
Meloni said the two leaders have met multiple times over the past few years, which has helped deepen trust and accelerate cooperation across sectors including trade, defence, innovation, energy, and cultural exchanges.
Ambitious Trade Targets
She highlighted that India and Italy have set an ambitious target to increase bilateral trade to 20 billion euros by 2029, supported by growing economic complementarity between the two countries.
"We certainly want to foster our already strong trade up to 20 billion euros, up from the current 14 billion, by 2029. This is a very ambitious target which can be achieved, also by taking advantage of the potential stemming from the Free Trade Agreement signed between the EU and India," Meloni said.
Deepening Cooperation Across Key Sectors
The Italian Prime Minister also emphasised ongoing efforts to expand collaboration in areas such as artificial intelligence, space, energy transition, defence, advanced manufacturing, and critical minerals.
She said both sides are working closely on initiatives like the InnovIT India project and a new Talent Centre in New Delhi to connect startups, universities, research institutions, and industries.
"The size, the digital infrastructure, and India's innovative dynamism combine perfectly with Italy's industrial strength, our manufacturing excellence, and our ability to promote technological integration. This complementarity can lead to business investments, quality employment, and industrial cooperation, and from this point of view, we are determined to explore all of these opportunities fully," she said.
"In this context, we are also engaged in promoting the Innovit India initiative, which will lead to the creation of a Talent Center in New Delhi that can foster cooperation between our talents, our innovative ecosystems, our startups, enterprises, universities, and research institutes," the Italian PM added.
Joint Efforts on Global and Cultural Fronts
Meloni further underscored cooperation on major global initiatives such as the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC), calling it a key project to enhance trade connectivity and the resilience of global supply chains and also announced plans for the Italy-India Year of Culture and Tourism in 2027, aimed at strengthening people-to-people ties between the two civilisations.
Highlighting shared global priorities, Meloni said India and Italy share common positions on international stability, maritime security, freedom of navigation, and inclusive development and will continue working together on issues including Ukraine and the Middle East.
"We wanted to further develop IMEC, which is the infrastructure corridor, economic corridor between Europe, the Middle East, and India, which was established during the G20 summit. This 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," she stated.
The remarks came during PM Modi's high-profile visit to Rome, where both leaders agreed to further deepen strategic cooperation across political, economic, and cultural domains.
Prime Minister Modi arrived in Rome on Tuesday in the last leg of his five-nation tour following his engagements in Norway, Sweden, the Netherlands and the United Arab Emirates. (ANI)
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