This article covers the political relationship between India and Italy: the early historical contacts, the establishment of diplomatic relations, meetings between the two Prime Ministers, ministerial visits, dialogue mechanisms and parliamentary links. It is based on the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) bilateral brief of May 2026, which is dated 5 May 2026.

Historical contacts

The MEA brief describes India and Italy as ancient civilisations with rich cultural heritage. Italian port cities were important trading posts on the ancient spice route. The Venetian merchant Marco Polo travelled to India in the 13th century during his travels to the east and wrote about his experiences.

Nobel Laureate Rabindranath Tagore visited Italy in May-June 1926. Mahatma Gandhi visited Rome in December 1931 on his way back to India from the Round Table Conference in London.

Establishment of diplomatic relations

Diplomatic relations between India and Italy were established in 1947. In 2023, the two countries celebrated the 75th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations.

According to the MEA brief of May 2026, Italy has joined several India-led plurilateral initiatives:

  • International Solar Alliance (ISA)
  • Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA)
  • Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (CDRI)
  • Indo-Pacific Oceans Initiative (IPOI)

Meetings between the Prime Ministers

Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's first state visit after she was elected was to India, in March 2023, when she was also Chief Guest at the Raisina Dialogue. She participated in the G20 Leaders' Summit in New Delhi in September 2023. During that summit Italy joined two initiatives launched by India: the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor (IMEEC) and the Global Biofuels Alliance (GBA).

Prime Minister Modi visited Italy in October 2021 for the G20 Summit in Rome under PM Mario Draghi. He met PM Draghi and interacted with the Indian community. He visited Italy again in June 2024, when he participated in the G7 Summit in Puglia and held a bilateral meeting with Prime Minister Meloni.

On 18 November 2024, the two Prime Ministers met on the sidelines of the G20 Summit in Rio de Janeiro. They announced the Joint Strategic Plan of Action 2025-29, which the brief describes as a roadmap for bilateral cooperation through co-production, innovation, R&D, mobility and business collaborations.

The brief lists further contacts between the two leaders:

  • 24 April 2025: PM Meloni called PM Modi to express solidarity and support following the Pahalgam terror attack of 22 April 2025.
  • 17 June 2025: the two Prime Ministers met briefly at the G7 Summit in Canada.
  • 10 September 2025: they held a telephone conversation.
  • 23 November 2025: they met on the sidelines of the G20 Summit in Johannesburg, South Africa, and adopted the India-Italy Joint Initiative to Counter Financing of Terrorism.

The brief also records that PM Meloni expressed strong support for the AI Summit hosted by India in February 2026.

After the brief, Prime Minister Modi paid an official visit to Italy on 19-20 May 2026 at the invitation of PM Meloni. The two leaders decided to elevate India-Italy relations to the level of a Special Strategic Partnership and agreed to hold annual meetings of leaders.

India and Italy's G7 presidency in 2024

India supported Italy's G7 presidency and took part in several G7 meetings held in Italy in 2024:

  • G7 Foreign Ministers Meeting, November 2024: External Affairs Minister Dr S. Jaishankar met Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Mr. Antonio Tajani and participated in the MED Dialogue (Mediterranean Dialogue).
  • G7 Trade and Investment Ministerial Meeting, July 2024: Minister of Commerce & Industry Shri Piyush Goyal attended in Reggio Calabria and met Mr. Tajani.
  • G7 Tourism Ministers Meeting, November 2024: Minister of State Shri Suresh Gopi held a bilateral meeting with Italy's Tourism Minister, Ms. Daniela Santanchè.
  • G7 Culture Ministers Meeting: Secretary (Culture) Shri Arunish Chawla was in Naples from 19 to 22 September and met Italy's Minister of Culture, Mr. Alessandro Giuli.
  • G7 Ministerial Meeting on Industry & Tech Innovation, October 2024: Secretary (MEITY) Shri S. Krishnan attended in Rome.
  • G7 Health Ministers Meeting, October 2024: Secretary (Health) Ms. Punya Salila Srivastava attended in Ancona and held a bilateral meeting with the Italian Health Minister, Orazio Schillaci.

Ministerial visits and political consultations

Undersecretary of State of Foreign Affairs Ms. Maria Tripodi visited Delhi on 17 February 2025. On 25 September 2025, on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York, Italian Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani met Dr S. Jaishankar and Shri Piyush Goyal.

Mr. Tajani visited India again in December 2025, accompanied by 50 Italian companies. He called on Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi and met the External Affairs Minister, the National Security Advisor and the Commerce and Industry Minister.

The last Foreign Office Consultations (FOC) were held in New Delhi on 20 March 2026. They were co-chaired by Secretary (West), MEA and Ambassador Nicoletta Bombardiere, Director General, Italian Foreign Ministry.

The annexure to the brief lists other visits from 2023 onwards. From India, these include visits to Italy by Minister of State for Textiles and Railways Smt. Darshana Jardosh (7-11 June 2023), Chief Justice of India Shri Bhushan Ramkrishna Gavai (16 to 20 June 2025) and Culture and Tourism Minister Shri Gajendra Singh Shekhawat (May 5-6, 2026), and a visit by President Smt. Droupadi Murmu to the Vatican (25-26 April 2025). From Italy, visitors to India included the Minister for Agriculture and Food Sovereignty, Mr. Francesco Lollobrigida (19 June 2023), and the Minister for Education and Merit, Mr. Giuseppe Valditara (22 June 2023), for G20 ministerial meetings.

The IMEEC

The brief states that Italy is a founding member of the IMEEC and has appointed Ambassador Francesco Talo as its Special Envoy for the corridor. Italy set up a Parliamentary Group on IMEEC in November 2025. On 17 March 2026, DPM Tajani hosted a meeting on the IMEEC in Trieste, in which India's Deputy NSA (SA) Ambassador Pavan Kapoor participated.

As of the brief, the India-Italy Parliamentary Friendship Group in Italy, led by Senator Giulio Terzi, had 22 members. Senator Terzi participated in the Raisina Dialogue in Delhi in February 2024. In March 2026, the Parliament of India constituted an 11-member Parliamentary Friendship Group for Italy, led by Shri P. Chidambaram, Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha.

Three Italian Parliamentarians, Hon. Lorenzo Cesa, Hon. Paolo Formentini and Senator Simona Flavia Malpezzi, participated in the Raisina Dialogue in Delhi in March 2026. Earlier, the President of the Italian Senate, Mr. Ignazio La Russa, and the President of the Italian Chamber of Deputies, Mr. Lorenzo Fontana, visited India on 13-14 October 2023 for the P20.

An all-party delegation of eight MPs led by Shri Ravi Shankar Prasad visited Italy from 27-29 May 2025 to convey India's perspective on cross-border terrorism following the terrorist attack in Pahalgam. The delegation met the Presidents of the Foreign Affairs Committees of the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies, Ms. Maria Tripodi and members of the Parliamentary Friendship Group. It also interacted with think-tanks, news agencies and journalists and met a cross section of the Indian community.