India, Italy can be leading soft power players, says Italian Ambassador Vincenzo de Luca

Indicating the key role Kerala plays in such fields, Sanjeev Sanyal, the member of the Prime Ministers Economic Advisory Council, said Kerala artisans are playing a lead role in an international heritage project that is meant to showcase Indias soft power globally.

India and Italy share a similar vision on global affairs based on peace and the two countries can be leading players in international soft power, Italian Ambassador to India Vincenzo de Luca said here on Friday.

The ambassador, while interacting with the media during the two-day annual conference of the Soft Power Club at Technopark here, said Italy and India are enjoying a period of the best relationship as illustrated by two summits between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Italian counterpart Giorgia Meloni last year.

''The strategic partnership enables the two countries to work together not just in hard power areas like defence and cyber security, but also in soft power areas like heritage, contemporary art, innovation and technology,'' de Luca was quoted in a state government release.

He said Italy and India are among the top countries when it comes to tangible heritage listings on the Unesco list. ''Soft power does not mean promoting only one culture. It means creating a bridge between culture, vision, ideas and principles of different societies,'' the ambassador said.

Francesco Rutelli, former mayor of Rome who went on to become deputy prime minister of Italy in 2006, founded the Soft Power Club in 2020 to define inclusive messages and place itself as a forum for effective multilateralism, the release said.

Speaking on the occasion, Rutelli underlined the increasing role of India in global affairs and said Kerala is the best place to illustrate the soft power of India, for both historical and contemporary reasons, for technological and digital innovation.

''India's soft power would be decisive, as in the near future, no multilateral agreement can be done without India's contribution,'' Rutelli said.

Chairing the media session, G20 Sherpa and former NITI Aayog chief Amithabh Kant revealed that the Italian ambassador was the one who got in touch with him and proposed that the annual meeting of the Soft Power Club be held in Kerala. Indicating the key role Kerala plays in such fields, Sanjeev Sanyal, the member of the Prime Minister's Economic Advisory Council, said Kerala artisans are playing a lead role in an international heritage project that is meant to showcase India's soft power globally.