Modi-Gentiloni meet to boost Indo-Italian ties after recent freeze
Get link
Facebook
X
Pinterest
Email
Other Apps
Paolo Gentiloni’s visit is the first by an Italian Prime Minister in ten years and is aimed at strengthening bilateral political and economic relations with India.
Italian Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni waves after his arrival at Palam Air Force station in New Delhi Sunday.(HT Photo)
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Italian counterpart Paolo Gentiloni will meet on Monday to boost ties between the two countries after relations had turned frosty following a face-off over two Italian marines killing two Indian fishermen in 2012.
Gentiloni who arrived on Sunday on a two-day visit, will have a 90-minute one on one meeting with Modi ahead of talks between the delegations of the two countries at noon.
The two leaders will meet the top CEOs of each other’s countries.
Gentiloni’s visit is the first by an Italian PM in 10 years — nearly four of which saw a strain in ties between New Delhi and Rome over two Italian marines killing two Indian fishermen off the Kerala coast in 2012.
“The visit is aimed at strengthening the bilateral political and economic relations between the two countries,” external affairs ministry spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said.
External affairs minister Sushma Swaraj will also call on Gentiloni. The Italian PM will visit both President Ram Nath Kovind and Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu.
The strain in India-Italy ties had spillover effect on Delhi’s relationship with European Union, country’s largest trading bloc. Romano Prodi was the last Italian Prime Minister to visit India in February 2007.
Diplomatic ties took a hit after the two Italian marines - Latorre Massimiliano and Salvatore Girone - were arrested on charges of killing two Indian fishermen.
Italy claimed the ship, Enrica Lexie, was in international waters when the incident happened and that only the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea should apply and questioned India’s jurisdiction over the case. Rome also said the marines who were on official duty, enjoyed diplomatic immunity. India argued against all these positions.
While Latorre returned to Italy in September 2014 on health grounds following an order of the Supreme Court, Girone was allowed to go in May 2016. They are now in Italy pending a verdict by the arbitration court at The Hague.
Prime Minister Gentiloni is accompanied by his wife and a 15-member delegation of Italian CEOs. Italy is India’s fifth largest trading partner in the EU with a bilateral trade of $8.79 billion in 2016-17, according to official figures.
India’s exports to Italy are at $4.90 billion, while its imports are at $3.89 billion, resulting in a trade imbalance of $1 billion in favour of India. In the first four months of 2017-18 fiscal, bilateral trade has reached $3.22 billion.
There are over 600 Italian companies in India in various sectors such as fashion, textiles and textile machinery, automotives, auto components, energy and insurance.
Italy has the third largest presence of Indian community in Europe with an estimated 1,80,000 people after the UK and the Netherlands.
India and Italy today inked six pacts to boost cooperation in key sectors, including energy and trade, after detailed talks between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Italian counterpart Paolo Gentiloni on ways to strengthen ties and countering terrorism.
They also called on all countries to work towards rooting out terrorist safe havens, their infrastructure and networks and halting cross-border movement of terrorists, a joint statement issued after the meeting said, in a veiled ..
India and Italy Sign Six MOUs
India and Italy signed six agreements on Monday, 30 October.(Photo Courtesy: Twitter/@MEAIndia)
India and Italy signed six memorandums of understanding (MoU) clubbed under the tagline ‘partnering for progress.’ These agreements included partnership in areas like the railway sector, energy department, and cultural cooperation.
In his joint address with the Italian Prime Minister, Modi said that in March 2018, India and Italy will be completing 70 years of diplomatic relations. The two PMs released commemorative stamps to mark the occasion, the Ministry of External Affairs tweeted.
PM Modi and PM Gentiloni released commemorative stamps to mark 70 years of diplomatic relations with Italy.(Photo Courtesy: Twitter/@MEAIndia)
Capital crisis: The Israeli flag flies high in the Old City of Jerusalem. The Dome of the Rock and the Western Wall are in the background. getty images/ istock The Only Language They Understand: Forcing Compromise in Israel and Palestine Nathan Thrall Metropolitan Books ₹918 While announcing his decision to recognise Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, U.S. President Donald Trump described the city as “as the capital the Jewish people established in ancient times.” This was hardly surprising. During the campaign, Mr. Trump had called the contested city Israel’s “eternal capital.” By making good on a campaign promise, the President has lived up to his pro-Israel image. But if one looks at the modern times, as Nathan Thrall writes in his book, The Only Language They Understand: Forcing Compromise in Israel and Palestine, Jerusalem was the “cultural, political and commercial capital for Palestinians, connected to Bethlehem in the south and Ra...
The 10 Best Travel Apps For Your Next Trip Is traveling on your to-do list this year? If yes, instead of wasting time looking for a travel agent, start with these 10 best travel apps to make your trip memorable and unforgettable. Nowadays, mobile apps play a crucial role in our professional as well as personal lives. The travel and tourism industry is not an exception. Mobile app development has a great impact and benefits many companies by improving the travel experience of users. Mobile apps have turned into a one-stop solution when it comes to booking your flights and accommodation. According to Statista, the travel & tourism industry is estimated to generate 17.3 billion U.S. dollars in revenue by 2020. In fact, in the year 2016, it was one of the world’s leading industries with a worldwide economic contribution of over 7.6 trillion U.S. dollars. Let us get started with our round-up of the world’s favorite travel apps! Agoda Agoda offer...
RCEP is considered as an alternative to Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) is a proposed free trade agreement (FTA) between the countries of Association of South East Asian Nations ( ASEAN ) namely Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam and the six states with which ASEAN has free trade agreements (Australia, China, India, Japan, South Korea and New Zealand). RCEP is considered as an alternative to the other important multilateral treaty named Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) . The TPP agreement excludes two of the important Asian powers – China and India. The Potential of RCEP RCEP member states accounted for a population of 3.4 billion people and a total Gross Domestic Product of $49.5 trillion. It is seen that the total GDP in RCEP could grow over to $100 billion by 2050 if the growth of the countries like China, India and India continues to be high. On Jan 23, ...
Comments
Post a Comment