Seeking to put an end to the uneasiness that crept into bilateral relations following the arrest of two Italian marines in India, Italy is ready to forge strong strategic and economic ties with India especially in areas such as health, green economy, electric vehicles, technology and renewable energies during Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte’s visit this week, a member of the Italian government has said.

“After many years of not so good relationship, the two governments are ready to deepen friendly relations. The visit of the Italian PM to India is giving a signal to the Italian businesses (of our renewed interest in the country) and I am sure PM Modi and other officials will give the same signal to Indian companies,” Michele Geraci, Deputy Minister for Economic Development, Government of Italy, said in an interview with BusinessLine .

When the two governments will have mutual trust we can lead the enterprises into having mutual trust, added Geraci, who is part of Conte’s delegation to India and is also attending the ‘DST-CII India-Italy Technology Summit’ in New Delhi.

Italy is India’s fifth largest trading partner in the European Union and in 2017-18, India’s exports to Italy posted a 16.47 per cent growth at $5.7 billion. Imports increased 20.8 per cent to $4.7 billion. “Bilateral trade last year has been very positive and we want to ensure that the trend should continue. We want to be more active with India and that is why we are here,” Geraci said.

While a number of Italian technology firms are participating in the joint technology forum this week, a large delegation of Italian businesses will visit India following Conte’s visit. “The purpose of this visit is to explore opportunities with the governments. There will be a larger presence of companies in the second round. We intend to go back and inform our companies of the opportunities that we have found here,” he said.

Sushma Swaraj met Conte in June shortly after the populist government was sworn to power in Italy. This is Conte’s first visit to India after assuming office. “We are hopeful that under Conte’s Prime Ministership, our bilateral ties will become stronger. Conte’s visit to India within the first six months of assuming office indicates that Italy is serious about getting close to India,” an official said.

India and Italy were involved in a long-running diplomatic row after two Italian marines — Latorre Massimiliano and Salvatore Girone — were arrested for allegedly killing two Indian fishermen off the coast of Kerala in 2012.

Sectors for cooperation

The sectors that Italy was looking at for greater cooperation with India include the green economy, electric vehicles, renewable energy, and digitalisation. “Both India and Italy need to move away quickly from fossil fuels, so there is scope for cooperation here. India has great expertise in digitalisation technology, where Italy is lacking and this, too, would be a good area of cooperation,” Geraci said. Similarly, Italy has expertise in food packaging which it could share, he added.

The absence of a free trade agreement (FTA) between India and the EU will in no way hamper trade relations between India and Italy, the Deputy Minister said.

“Having a FTA at the beginning may not be necessary as trade rules are anyway governed by the World Trade Organization. There could also be disadvantages of an FTA,” he added.

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