An agreement was reached between India and Italy to encourage cooperation in the areas of defence, security, marine domain awareness, research and development, information sharing, and industrial collaboration, including joint ventures for the development and manufacturing of military systems.
This came after defence minister Rajnath Singh held delegation-level talks with his Italian counterpart Guido Crosetto in Rome, where the two sides discussed a host of defence cooperation issues, including military training, maritime exercises and maritime security.
“The focus was on the opportunities in defence-industrial cooperation. The two ministers discussed the complementary capacities of India and Italy in the defence sector and the possibilities of joint development. Singh suggested fostering the interaction of Indian startups with Italian defence companies,” an official said.
Singh was travelling to Italy and France as part of a two-nation tour to deepen bilateral strategic ties. Together with his French colleague Sebastian Lecornu, he will co-chair the fifth annual India-France defence discussion in Paris.
The purchase of 26 French Rafale-Marine fighter jets and three more Scorpene diesel-electric submarines received preliminary approval, or "acceptance of necessity" (AoN), from the Singh-led defence acquisitions council on July 13, the day before the Modi-Macron summit in Paris.