Italy and India set out expanded strategic agenda on technology, AI, energy and trade

Italy and India have set out a wide-ranging strategic agenda covering technology, artificial intelligence, trade, energy, defense, space and digital cooperation. The intervention is presented as a joint text by Giorgia Meloni and Narendra Modi and says the relationship has reached a decisive phase, moving from cordial friendship to a special strategic partnership based on freedom, democracy and a shared vision of the future.

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The source says the partnership is being driven by frequent meetings at the highest political and institutional levels. It states that Italy and India are seeking a new and higher dimension of cooperation that combines Italy's economic dynamism, social creativity and industrial base with India's growth, engineering talent, production scale and innovative ecosystem.

The text places industrial cooperation at the center of the bilateral agenda. It says Italy wants a powerful synergy between Italian design, manufacturing excellence and world-class supercomputers, and India's rapid economic growth, engineering capacity, manufacturing scale and entrepreneurial ecosystem.

That ecosystem is described as containing more than 100 unicorns and 200.000 start-ups. Trade and investment expansion are also identified as key objectives.

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The source says the EU-India free trade agreement opens the way for greater flows in both directions and states that Italy and India want to reach and exceed 20 billion euros in bilateral trade by 2029. The sectors named include defense and aerospace, clean technologies, machinery, auto components, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, textiles, agro-food and tourism.

The text says the increasing presence of Italian companies in India and Indian industries in Italy is strengthening supply-chain integration. It states that the industrial presence now exceeds 1.000 on both sides.

It also says the Made in Italy brand and the Make in India initiative have a natural complementarity, with Italian firms showing growing interest in producing for India. Artificial intelligence is described as a central pillar of the partnership.

The source says both countries are working to ensure AI development is responsible and human-centered, and that AI should be used as a tool for inclusive development, especially in the Global South. It says India and Italy support the idea that public digital infrastructure and accessible multilingual technologies can close divides rather than widen them.

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The text explicitly links the bilateral AI approach to India's MANAV vision and Italy's promotion of an anthropocentric "algor-etica" rooted in humanist tradition. It says the partnership seeks to ensure that technology serves human dignity, and that shared good practices in secure digital cooperation, capacity building and cyber-resilient infrastructure are intended to create an open, trustworthy and fair digital space.

The source also says this vision formed the core of the Italian G7 presidency and the results of the AI Impact 2026 summit in New Delhi. Security and defense cooperation are listed as another major line of work.

The source says Italy and India intend to deepen collaboration in defense, security and strategic technologies, including the protection of critical maritime routes and resilience against terrorism, international criminal networks, drug trafficking, cybercrime and human trafficking. It also says the partnership extends to space, with India's progress in space exploration and satellite technology combining with Italian aerospace engineering for joint initiatives and next-generation technologies.

Energy and connectivity are presented as additional pillars of the relationship. The text says cooperation includes renewables, hydrogen technologies, smart grids and resilient infrastructure, and notes India's ambition to become a green hydrogen export hub.

It also refers to Italy's strategic role as Europe's energy gateway and says the two countries work together in initiatives led by India such as the International Solar Alliance, the Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure and the Global Biofuels Alliance. The intervention closes by describing the Indo-Pacific, the Mediterranean and the emerging Indo-Mediterranean space as interconnected corridors for trade, technology, energy, data and ideas, and says the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor is a vision for linking the two regions through transport, digital networks, energy systems and resilient supply chains.

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