Italy: Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Italian counterpart, Giorgia Meloni, clicked a selfie on the sidelines of the G7 summit that concluded in Italy on Friday.
The two leaders were seen smiling as Meloni clicked a selfie with Prime Minister Modi on the sidelines of the G7 Outreach Summit in Apulia.
The camaraderie between the two leaders who met previously at the G20 Summit in Delhi last year and then at the COP 28 in Dubai have spawned several online memes.
Modi & Meloni's Selfie During COP28 Meet In Dubai
In December last year, the two leaders had clicked a selfie on the the sidelines of the 28th Conference of the Parties (COP28) in Dubai. While sharing the picture with PM Modi on X, Meloni had stated, "Good friends at COP28, #Melodi." Photographs of the two leaders together have been shared widely on online platforms with the hashtags "Melodi" becoming a trending topic.
PM Modi Holds Bilateral Talks With Italian PM Meloni
Meanwhile, PM Modi held a bilateral meeting with his Italian counterpart during the G7 Summit in Italy and discussed defence and security cooperation between the two countries.
"The two sides discussed bilateral defence and security cooperation and hoped for further enhancing the defence industrial collaboration. They welcomed the forthcoming visit of the Italian aircraft carrier ITS Cavour and training ship ITS Vespucci to India later this year," the Ministry of External Affairs said in an official release.
Moreover, PM Modi also thanked the Italian Government for recognising the Indian Army's contribution to the Italian Campaign during World War II and informed that "India will be upgrading the Yashwant Ghadge Memorial at Montone in Italy.
"PM Modi and his Italian counterpart noted with satisfaction the regular higher political dialogue and reviewed the progress of the India-Italy Strategic Partnership."While expressing happiness at growing trade and economic collaboration, they called for expanding commercial ties in clean energy, manufacturing, Space, S&T, telecom, AI and critical minerals to build resilient supply chains. In this context, they welcomed the recent signing of a MoU on Industrial Property Rights (IPR) which provides a framework for cooperation on patents, designs and trademarks," the MEA release read.
During the meeting, the two leaders welcomed the signing of the Letter of Intent for Cooperation in Energy Transition, which will boost bilateral cooperation in clean and green energy. It was taken note of under the 'Global Biofuels Alliance'. Meloni also congratulated PM Modi for his third consecutive term as Prime Minister.
"They expressed happiness at the new Executive Programme of Cooperation for 2025-27 to promote joint research and development in Science and Technology," the MEA said.
PM Modi Attended G7 Summit On Meloni's Invitation
Notably, PM Modi attended the G7 Summit in Apulia, Italy, at the invitation of Italian PM Meloni.
"Thanked her for inviting India to be a part of the G7 Summit and for the wonderful arrangements," PM Modi later wrote on X.
"We discussed ways to further cement India-Italy relations in areas like commerce, energy, defence, telecom and more. Our nations will work together in futuristic areas like biofuels, food processing and critical minerals," he added.
The G7 summit, where India was invited as an 'Outreach Country,' had participation from the seven member countries, the US, UK, Canada, Germany, Italy, Japan, and France, as well as the European Union.
Meloni had invited PM Modi to attend the G7 Summit in Italy's Apulia region. It was India's 11th and PM Modi's fifth consecutive participation at the G7 Summit.
