12th edition of India-Italy Military Cooperation Group meeting concludes in Delhi

According to Ministry of Defence, discussions between the Directorate of International Defence Cooperation, Headquarters Integrated Defence Staff and the Military Policy and Planning Division of the Italian Defence General Staff focused on new initiatives to further enhance the defence cooperation and military-to-military-level exchange between the two countries.

India and Italy concluded the 12th edition of the Military Cooperation Group (MCG) in New Delhi on Wednesday. According to the Ministry of Defence, the two-day long discussions between the Directorate of International Defence Cooperation, Headquarters Integrated Defence Staff and the Military Policy and Planning Division of the Italian Defence General Staff focused on new initiatives to further enhance the defence cooperation and military-to-military-level exchange between the two countries.

Also, Defence Secretary Giridhar Aramane and Italian Secretary General of Defence & National Armament Director Lt Gen Luciano Portolano co-chaired the 10 th India-Italy Joint Defence Committee (JDC) meeting in the national capital today. Both sides discussed a wide range of defence industrial and military cooperation issues. They also exchanged views on the Indo-Pacific and the security situations, the Defence Ministry said.

The focus of the meeting was to enhance defence industrial cooperation. India and Italy had signed an agreement on defence cooperation in October 2023 during the visit of Rajnath Singh to Italy. With the agreement providing the overarching framework to deepen the bilateral defence relationship, both sides discussed ways and means to bring the defence companies of both the countries together for joint projects, including for co-production in India.

The Defence Secretary suggested the integration of Indian vendors in the global supply chains of Italian defence companies to bring value to both sides and improve the supply chain resilience. Italy and India recently elevated their bilateral relations to the levels of Strategic Partnership during the visit of Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni to India in March 2023.

The MoU on Defence Cooperation was also recently renewed during the visit of Defence Minister Rajnath Singh to Italy in October 2023. In March last year, Giorgia Meloni and Prime Minister Narendra Modi decided to elevate the India-Italy partnership to the level of a strategic partnership.

This was PM Meloni's first state visit to India, during the eighth edition of the Raisina Dialogue. During the bilateral meeting, the two leaders discussed the entire gamut of bilateral, regional and global cooperation.

Later in September, PM Modi and Meloni held bilateral talks on the sidelines of the G20 Summit in the national capital. The talks covered sectors such as trade, commerce, defence and emerging technologies. (ANI)

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