NEW DELHI:
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday said both India and Italy were keen to take bilateral ties between the two nations to new heights through greater cooperation in a range of fields.
The Prime Minister was addressing a joint press conference with Italian counterpart Paolo Gentiloni after holding extensive talks to review the entire spectrum of the bilateral relationship.and signing several agreements to strengthen bilateral cooperation.
“During my talks with PM Gentiloni, we both realised that we’re both willing to take the bilateral relations between our countries to new heights,” PM Modi told mediapersons.
“Both of us are committed to fight unitedly against terror and on the issue of cyber security,” he said.
Regarding diplomatic relations, PM Modi said India and Italy are also committed to increase tourism and people-to-people ties between the two countries.
He went on to say that there was great scope for further collaboration between India and Italy, particularly in the commercial sector. Italy is India’s fifth largest trading partner in the EU with a bilateral trade of $8.79 billion in 2016-17, as per official figures.
The Prime Minister also welcomed partnership with Italy in the government’s flagship projects like smart cities, food processing, pharmaceuticals and infrastructure. Earlier in the day, India and Italy signed six MOUs to further strengthen bilateral relations. These include a Joint Declaration of Intent of Cooperation for Safety in the Railway sector, cooperation in the field of Energy, an Executive Protocol on Cultural Cooperation, promoting mutual investments and an MoU on 70 years of diplomatic relations between the two nations.
