Indian PM Narendra Modi on Tuesday met his Italian counterpart Giorgia Meloni during the G20 Summit in Rio de Janeiro when they discussed ways to deepen ties in defence, security, trade, and technology.

Following his meeting with the Italian leader, Modi posted on X: "Glad to have met Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni on the sidelines of the Rio de Janeiro G20 Summit. Our talks centred around deepening ties in defence, security, trade and technology. We also talked about how to boost cooperation in culture, education and other such areas. India-Italy friendship can greatly contribute to a better planet."

Fifth meeting between two leaders

This was the fifth meeting between the two Prime Ministers in the last two years.

The two leaders had met last in June 2024, in Puglia, Italy on the occasion of the G7 Summit chaired by Prime Minister Meloni.

Prime Minister congratulated Prime Minister Meloni for leading the G7 in these challenging times.

Action Plan

Following up on their discussions in Puglia, the two leaders reiterated their commitment to advancing the India-Italy Strategic Partnership and announced a Joint Strategic Action Plan 2025-29 which outlines their vision for the next five years.

The Action Plan will pursue joint collaborations, programmes and initiatives in key sectors of trade and investment, science and technology, new and emerging technologies, clean energy, space, defence, connectivity and people-to-people linkages.

The two sides will hold regular ministerial and official dialogues across numerous domains.

Co-production, collaborations between respective industries and institutions, innovation and mobility would provide momentum and further depth to the bilateral partnership and benefit the economies and people of both countries.

The two leaders looked forward to continuing their dialogue and work together on multilateral and global platforms for upholding their shared values of democracy, rule of law and sustainable development.

They agreed to continue working together for the implementation of plurilateral strategic initiatives, including the Global Biofuels Alliance and the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor, of which they are founding members.