India, Italy hold deliberations to expand military ties

India and Italy held a two-day meeting in Rome, focusing on ways to expand their military cooperation, including in areas of capability development, the defence ministry said on Saturday.

The deliberations to boost the bilateral defence ties came four months after Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Italian counterpart Giorgia Meloni unveiled a five-year strategic action plan to significantly expand cooperation between the two countries in certain key areas, including defence and security.

The action plan was released following talks between the two prime ministers in Brazil's Rio de Janeiro in November on the sidelines of the G20 Summit.


At the meeting of the 13th edition of the India-Italy Military Cooperation Group (MCG) held on March 20 and 21, the two sides also reviewed the overall situation in the Indo-Pacific.

The discussions focused on identifying new avenues to expand the scope of bilateral military-focused cooperation, the ministry said.

"Key agenda points included enhanced exchange programmes, capability development efforts and strengthening collaboration between the Indian and Italian armed forces," the ministry said.

"The meeting also reviewed ongoing defence engagements, assessing their progress and exploring ways to optimise future interactions," it said.

The MCG serves as a key institutional mechanism to enhance defence cooperation between the armed forces of both nations, fostering stronger military-to-military engagements and strategic collaboration.

The meeting was co-chaired by the deputy assistant chief of integrated defence staff IDC (A) from headquarters, integrated defence staff (HQ IDS), India and deputy head of the strategic direction and military cooperation division of the Italian defence general staff.