NEW DELHI: The military officials of India and Italy held discussions on working on new avenues to expand the scope of "military focused cooperation" as part of the institutionalised Military Cooperation Group meeting.
The Ministry of Defence on Saturday said that this was the 13th edition of the India-Italy Military Cooperation Group (MCG) meeting which was successfully conducted from 20-21 March in Rome, Italy. The discussions were focusing on identifying new avenues to expand the scope of bilateral military-focused cooperation, said MoD.
Key agenda points, as per the MoD, included enhanced exchange programs, capability development efforts and strengthening collaboration between the Indian and Italian armed forces. The meeting also reviewed ongoing defence engagements, assessing their progress and exploring ways to optimize future interactions. The meeting was co-chaired by the Deputy Assistant Chief of Integrated Defence Staff IDC (A) from Headquarters Integrated Defence Staff (HQ IDS), representing India, and the Deputy Head of the Strategic Direction and Military Cooperation Division of the Italian Defence General Staff, representing Italy.
The MCG serves as a key institutional mechanism to enhance defence cooperation between the armed forces of both nations, fostering stronger military-to-military engagements and strategic collaboration. The ties between the two nations are getting strengthened with steps being taken at wider levels.
It was in November last year that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Prime Minister of Italy Giorgia Meloni during their meeting at the G20 Summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil had decided to give impetus through the focused, time bound initiatives and joint plan of strategic action. Among other things, they agreed to "Negotiate a Defence Industrial Roadmap, between the two Ministries of Defence and promote a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the Society of Indian Defence Manufacturers (SIDM) and the Italian Industries Federation for Aerospace, Defence and Security (AIAD)."
The Indian Army has a unique historical connection with Italy. The 4th, 8th and 10th Indian Divisions, with more than 50,000 troops, played a significant role in advances of the Allied Forces for the liberation of Italy in the Second World War. Out of the twenty Victoria Crosses awarded in the Italian Campaign, six were awarded to Indians.