India and Italy condemned terrorism in all its forms and manifestations
India and Italy held the 4th joint working group meeting on counter terrorism and organised crime on Friday in New Delhi and exchanged views on domestic, regional, and international terrorist threats and discussed bilateral and multilateral cooperation in fighting terrorism and transnational organised crime.
 
According to the Ministry of External Affairs, the two sides condemned terrorism in all its forms and manifestations and shared their experience in preventing and countering terrorism, violent extremism, radicalization, cross-border terrorist travel and financing of terrorism.
 
The two countries also recalled their support for a zero tolerance, comprehensive approach to prevent and combat terrorism based on the rule of law and emphasized the importance of an effective prosecution of those responsible for terrorist acts while condemning all forms of state sponsored terrorism, the MEA maintained.
 
At the joint working meeting, while the Indian delegation was represented by K D Dewal, Joint Secretary for Counter Terrorism in the MEA, the Italian delegation was led by Alessandro Azzoni, Deputy Director General for Political Affairs and Principal Director for Security at the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
 
The two delegations also exchanged views on cooperation at the multilateral fora, such as the UN, FATF and GCTF. They also expressed commitment to advance the ongoing negotiations on a number of bilateral agreements in the spheres of judicial and police cooperation. The meeting set the path for future joint training and capacity- building programs.

The next meeting of the joint working group will be held in Rome in 2024 on a mutually-convenient date, the MEA added.
 
India and Italy share a warm and friendly diplomatic relations and high-level visits between the two nations have further imparted depth and closeness in their ties.
 
Last month, when Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni visited New Delhi for the G20 Summit, she held a bilateral meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the sidelines of the summit.
 
This was the second visit of Italian Prime Minister Meloni to India following her state visit in March, during which bilateral ties between the two countries were raised to the level of a strategic partnership.
 
Bilateral trade between India and Italy has also witnessed a significant growth in the recent past. In 2021-22, the two-way trade between the two nations stood at $13.229 billion, which was a 53.86% increase over the previous financial year.
 
Italy is India’s 4th largest trading partner in the European Union after Germany, Belgium, and the Netherlands. India ranks 15th as a country of origin of Italian imports, accounting for 1.5% of Italian imports.
 
The top items of exports from India to Italy are: organic basic product, clothing, precious metals and other non-precious metals, pharmaceuticals, dyes, pigments and yarns, motor vehicles & parts, refined petroleum products.
 
Italy ranks 17th in FDI inflows in India during April 2000 to June 2022 with FDI inflow of $ 3.20 bn during this period.
 
The top sectors attracting FDI - Automobile (29.8%), Trading (17.1%), Industrial Machinery (5.6%), Services (5.1 %), Electrical Equipment (4.6%). The stock of Overseas Direct Investment from India to Italy up to 2021 is at the level of $ 401 million.