The Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Antonio Tajani, paid an official visit to India on 10th and 11th December, just a few months after his previous mission on 11th and 12th April. The visit took place within the framework of the Strategic Partnership launched in 2023 and the Joint Strategic Action Plan 2025–2029, adopted in November 2024 by Prime Minister Meloni and Prime Minister Modi.
After productive meetings in New Delhi with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Minister of External Affairs Dr. Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, National Security Advisor Shri Ajit Doval, and Minister of Sports Mansukh Mandaviya, Minister Tajani on 11 December travelled to Mumbai, India’s economic capital, where he took part in the third Italy–India Business Forum 2025, co-chaired with Hon. Piyush Goyal, India’s Minister of Commerce and Industry.
The Forum brought together senior institutional representatives, industry leaders, unicorns for over 200 business delegations from Italy and India. During the Forum, Deputy Prime Minister Tajani emphasised the objective of increasing bilateral trade (target: EUR 20 billion by 2029) and investments, particularly from India towards Italy. Discussions focused on strengthening bilateral trade, resilient supply chains and technology partnerships, with particular attention to clean mobility, renewable energy, advanced manufacturing, food processing, digital innovation and high-technology sectors. The programme included sectoral roundtables, pitching sessions and business-to-business matchmaking activities, resulting in more than 100 meetings and the identification of opportunities for joint ventures, research and development cooperation, co-development initiatives and value-chain integration.
On the margins of the Forum, Deputy Prime Minister Tajani also held bilateral meetings with the Minister of Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal and with leading Indian industrialists, namely Natarajan Chandrasekaran (Tata Group) and Prakash Parmanand Hinduja (Hinduja Group Europe), and signed the Agreed Minutes of the 22nd session of the Joint Commission for Economic Cooperation, held in Brescia on 4th June.
Several announcements and agreements were reached between companies and economic operators. In the field of innovation and technology, Italy and India agreed to launch a bilateral initiative aimed at creating a platform for structured dialogue among start-ups, companies, research centres and universities from both countries, promoting the mobility of skills and talent and fostering joint projects in artificial intelligence, quantum technologies, digital, biotech and other strategic sectors.
During the Forum, Ministers Tajani and Goyal also met the founders of around 30 Indian unicorns including Zetwerk, Paytm and Easy My Trip, and discussed the organisation of a dedicated meeting on start-ups and innovation in Rome in 2026. In India’s financial capital, Deputy Prime Minister Tajani further visited the National Stock Exchange, where a dialogue was initiated among funds, venture capital firms and financial stakeholders, highlighting the role of finance in supporting economic growth and innovation.
Addressing the staff of the Consulate General of Italy in Mumbai, the Deputy Prime Minister underlined the strategic role of the Consulate in India’s financial capital in supporting economic diplomacy and facilitating the achievement of the trade and investment objectives set between Italy and India.
