PM Modi, Italy's Meloni hold bilateral talks; announce joint initiative against terror financing

PRime government minister Narendra Modi held a bilaterally symmetrical get together with his Italian vis-a-vis Giorgia Meloni on the sidelines of the G20 breast on Sunday in South Africa’s Johannesburg. The Italian prime minister expressed solidarity with India over the recent terror incident in Delhi and the two leaders also adopted the “India-Italy Joint Initiative to Counter Financing of Terrorism”.In a social media post following the bilateral meeting, PM Modi wrote, “Had a very good meeting with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni. The India-Italy Strategic Partnership is growing from strength to strength, greatly benefitting the people of our nations”.PM Modi-Meloni meetingAccording to a press release from the external affairs ministry, Meloni conveyed her solidarity with India over the terror incident in Delhi and reaffirmed Italy’s commitment to work together to tackle terrorism.During their meeting on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Johannesburg, the two leaders also adopted the “India-Italy Joint Initiative to Counter Financing of Terrorism”, which aims to reflect their shared resolve to combat terrorism.MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said in a post on X, “Their talks centred around deepening ties in trade, investment, technology, AI, defence and security, space, research, innovation and culture.”The leaders reviewed the progress of the bilateral Strategic Partnership in areas such as trade and investment, defence, security, space, science and technology, education and people to people ties. They said they were pleased with the advancements under the Joint Strategic Action Plan 2025 to 29, the press release said.Jaiswal said Meloni expressed strong support for the AI Summit that India will host in 2026.India-Italy trade is estimated at about USD 15 billion in 2023 to 2024, while Foreign Direct Investment from Italy into India has reached about USD 4 billion since 2000.PM Modi at G20 summitAddressing the third session of the G20 summit here, PM Modi called for a global agreement to stop the misuse of artificial intelligence and urged that critical technologies should focus on people rather than finance.He also said technology should be “global” instead of “national” and built on “open source” rather than “exclusive models”.The prime minister proposed a G20 initiative to support clean energy transitions by improving recycling, easing pressure on supply chains and promoting joint research on critical minerals. He also suggested creating a partnership to make satellite data easier to access and use.