NEW DELHI: India and Italy on Thursday strengthened defence ties during Italian Defence Minister Guido Crosetto’s visit to New Delhi, with Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and his counterpart exchanging a military cooperation plan for 2026-27.
The discussions focused on expanding strategic, maritime and defence-industrial cooperation.
Sources said Rajnath Singh raised India’s concerns over transfer of defence technologies to Pakistan.
“It was made very clear that India expects sensitive defence technologies not to find their way to Pakistan,” a source said.
According to a government statement, both sides discussed collaboration in advanced defence technologies and potential joint industrial projects under India’s Aatmanirbhar Bharat initiative and Italy’s defence cooperation framework.
Italy is also part of the UK-Japan-Italy Tempest sixth-generation fighter programme, which India is closely watching.
The bilateral military cooperation plan exchanged during the meeting will guide expanded engagement between the armed forces through joint exercises, training, staff exchanges and operational coordination.
Maritime security was a key focus, with discussions on strengthening maritime domain awareness and information sharing through the Information Fusion Centre-Indian Ocean Region (IFC-IOR) in Gurugram.
Separately, the Indian Coast Guard hosted an Italian delegation where both sides discussed indigenous development and co-development of technologies, including dynamic positioning systems, advanced thrusters, AI-enabled decision support, counter-unmanned aerial systems (C-UAS) and next-generation green propulsion.
In recent months, India has expanded defence engagement with Europe through the India-EU Security and Defence Partnership and bilateral ties with countries such as France and Germany in areas including jet engines, fighters, precision-guided munitions and submarines.