Italian Defence & Aerospace Firms Keen To Explore Joint Production Or Technology Transfer With India: Envoy
As far as our cooperation in the multilateral arena is concerned, we have a very important opportunity in the next two years, as Italy and India will hold consecutive Presidencies of the G20. In this context, we committed to coordinate our activities and set common priorities to strengthen the impact and relevance of our legacy. The success of the 6 November Italy-India Virtual Summit is underpinned by the conclusion of 15 agreements. Some of those are in the defence industry sector
India’s defence partnership with Italy, one of key European states and member
of G-7, is being revived and got a major boost during Nov 6 Summit.
Elaborating on achievements of the Summit, Italian envoy to India Vincenzo de
Luca told ET’s Dipanjan Roy Chaudhury that Italian defence firms are ready to
explore possible avenues of cooperation in the field of joint production or
technology transfer. He also emphasised that Rome wants to foster a stronger
cooperation between the Mediterranean and the Indian Ocean as part of its
Indo-Pacific vision.
1. It was a landmark summit. 15 pacts and new areas of cooperation.
What does it mean for Indo-Italy partnership.
The Virtual Summit between President Conte and Prime Minister Modi marks an
important milestone in the bilateral relations between the two countries. The
two leaders had a thorough exchange that ranged from global, regional and
bilateral issues. They focused on further enhancing economic relations and
strengthening cultural and scientific ties. The true added value of the
meeting was the adoption of the Joint Declaration and the Plan of Action which
contains the priority areas and strategic goals on which our bilateral
partnership for the period 2020-2025 will be based upon. As far as our
cooperation in the multilateral arena is concerned, we have a very important
opportunity in the next two years, as Italy and India will hold consecutive
Presidencies of the G20. In this context, we committed to coordinate our
activities and set common priorities to strengthen the impact and relevance of
our legacy.
2. The two PMs referred to Indo-Pacific partnership. What are Italy’s
plan for a Indo-Pacific strategy.
A sustainable economic recovery after the Covid crisis will be achieved only
through the activation of solid and reliable global supply chains and enhanced
connectivity. In this framework, the Indo-Pacific region will play a
fundamental role, since through its sea-lanes a great deal of the world’s
trade and energy resources exchanges are operated. The Mediterranean Sea and
the Indian Ocean overlap, connecting seamlessly Europe, Africa and Asia. For
this reason, many actors are interested in ensuring that the connection among
these regions is built on a rules-based international order, rule of law,
sustainable and transparent infrastructure investment and freedom of
navigation.
Last 9 September Italy became Development Partner of ASEAN with the purpose of
contributing to any initiative aimed at facilitating the cooperation between
Europe and the Indo-Pacific for the sake of stability, security and prosperity
of all the countries concerned. Moreover, thanks also to the Indian support,
Italy has recently joined the Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA) as a
Dialogue Partner. Again, our purpose is investing in the blue economy sector
and foster a stronger cooperation between the Mediterranean and the Indian
Ocean.
3. The Defence partnership is being revived. What are new areas
including joint production in India in pipeline?
The success of the 6 November Italy-India Virtual Summit is underpinned by the
conclusion of 15 agreements. Some of those are in the defence industry sector.
In particular, our national champion in shipbuilding, Fincantieri, inked two
MoUs with Cochin Shipyard Ltd on design, shipbuilding, manufacturing and
repair/refit. There are also other Italian companies with world-class
expertise that are already in partnership with Indian counterparts and there
are others that are leaders in Aerospace, Defence and Security that would be
ready to explore possible avenues of cooperation in the field of joint
production or technology transfer.
4. How enthusiastic are Italian companies about Make in India program
and increasing their investments here
The Make in India program opens many opportunities to Italian companies. There
is a strong potential to further strengthen our economic relations and promote
investments both ways. This was acknowledged also in the High Level Economic
Dialogue at the level of CEOs that was held at the end of October, prior to
the Summit. We need to encourage our “national champions” to interact between
each other, unleash the untapped potential of our economic ties, and explore
new areas of cooperation, especially in high tech, green economy and renewable
energy, infrastructure and food processing. In this context the MOU signed
between CassaDepositi e Prestiti and the NIIF will also provide a tool to
support this interaction through innovative financial schemes.
5. What role can India play in Mediterranean region and will Italy be
India's principal partner in that process
EAM Jaishankar participated last year in Rome MED, Italy’s flagship conference
committed to addressing the main challenges of the Mediterranean. His
intervention was insightful and inspirational and proved that there truly is a
seamless link between the Indian Ocean and the Mediterranean Basin. We are
looking forward to India’s contribution also to this year’s edition. As I said
before, connectivity will be a key factor in addressing the challenges that
lie ahead in a post-Covid scenario.
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