India and Italy strongly condemn terrorism and violent extremism, deepen defence ties
Rome, May 20
India and Italy on Wednesday jointly condemned terrorism and violent extremism in all its forms and manifestations, including cross border terrorism, urging all the nations to continue work towards eliminating terrorist safe havens and infrastructure, disrupting terrorist networks and combating terror financing.
During their meeting in Rome, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Italian counterpart Giorgia Meloni welcomed the first meeting of the Permanent Task Force between India and Italy on countering the financing of terrorism and the upcoming meeting of the Joint Working Group (JWG) on Counter Terrorism.
"The two leaders strongly condemned terrorism and violent extremism in all its forms and manifestations, including cross border terrorism. The two leaders strongly condemned the April 2025 Pahalgam terror attack and reiterated their commitment to cooperate in the fight against terrorists and terrorist groups and their affiliates including those listed in the UN Security Council 1267 Sanctions regime," read the India-Italy Joint declaration released following the meeting.
"They called upon all countries to continue to work towards eliminating terrorist safe havens and infrastructure, disrupting terrorist networks and combating the financing of terrorism, consistent with the Financial Action Task Force's guidelines. Both leaders reiterated their commitment to work together at the UN, FATF and other multilateral platforms," it added.
PM Modi and Meloni also expressed satisfaction at the deepening of defence cooperation between India and Italy, including through ministerial exchanges, service-to-service ties, port visits and welcomed the adoption of a Joint Declaration of Intent and a Defence Industrial Roadmap which will promote partnerships for technological cooperation, co-production and co-development projects, including helicopters, naval platforms, marine armament and electronic warfare.
According to the Joint Statement, the two Prime Ministers recognised the importance of protecting critical infrastructures and their related supply chains through the strengthening of industrial resilience. India and Italy agreed to examine the feasibility of creating an annual high level military structured dialogue, complementing the work of the Joint Defence Committee and the Military Cooperation Group and to promote joint exercises and inter-force courses.
PM Modi and Meloni also agreed to launch a dialogue on maritime security, with the aim to strengthen maritime security cooperation, coordination, and the exchange of information and best practices in the maritime domain.
"Both leaders welcomed the conclusion of an MoU between the Italian Guardia di Finanza and the Directorate of Enforcement of India and looked forward to early conclusion of the Agreement on Exchange and Mutual Protection of Classified Information and the Agreement on strengthening of Police Cooperation. They also welcomed the ongoing discussions on other agreements including Extradition Treaty and Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty," the statement added.
— IANS
Reader Comments
As an outsider looking in, it's impressive how India is building strategic partnerships across Europe. Defence co-production with Italy could be a game-changer for both economies. The maritime security dialogue is particularly interesting given tensions in the Indian Ocean.
Finally some global solidarity on terrorism! But I wish they had mentioned specific groups like LeT or JeM by name. Still, a joint task force on terror financing is a step forward. Let's hope FATF cracks down on all safe havens, not just select ones. 💪
The defence industrial roadmap sounds promising - co-developing helicopters and naval platforms with Italy could reduce India's reliance on Russian hardware. Just hope the bureaucracy doesn't slow things down. "Made in India" with Italian tech could be a win-win.
Good diplomatic move by PM Modi. But while we sign agreements abroad, what about domestic security? We need better intelligence coordination at home too. The Pahalgam attack showed vulnerabilities despite such international commitments. Still, every step counts. 🇮🇳
Interesting to see Italy and India aligning so closely - both have strong cultural ties and now strategic ones too. The MoU between Guardia di Finanza and Enforcement Directorate could help crack down on money laundering. About time global cooperation on terror financing got serious!
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