Italy will contribute to the success of Indian Presidency of G20: Ambassador Vincenzo de Luca

Italy's ambassador to India, Vincenzo de Luca, has said that his country will contribute to the success of the Indian Presidency of the G20 and welcomed India for raising the issues of the Global South.Speaking to our diplomatic correspondent Sidhant Sibal, Ambassador Vincenzo said, "I think the Indian presidency will provide a further boost to the agenda of G20, we launched some items in Rome, like the fight against the pandemic."

India is the President of the G20 grouping this year and will be hosting the summit in September and the foreign minister meeting in March. This is the first time India is hosting the G20 summit since the group started meeting at the summit level after the 2008 financial crisis. Italy hosted the G20 summit in 2021.

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The ambassador also spoke on the bilateral aspect of the relationship. He pointed out that both countries can work on defence, green transition and shaping a "new vision of the Indo-Pacific".

WION:What will be the key focus for the Italian embassy this year, especially when it comes visit of the Italian cricket team?

Vincenzo de Luca:It is an ambitious project to have a match between the Italian cricket team and the Indian one, of course, the Indian one is much better than ours but maybe in football we can do the same. But I would say, this year all our cultural events, also in the economic sphere will very much contribute to the G20 agenda, bilateral trade, and relations. This year, the year of the 75th anniversary of the diplomatic relations between Italy and India and contributed several things. Have presented a very big programme of events all over India, not only in Delhi but Mumbai, Kolkata, Bengaluru, and many states. We will give us contribute to the success of the G20 Presidency of India and try to have more people-to-people connections between Italy and India.

WION:India is hosting the G20. How can Italy strengthen the Indian presidency of G20, what hopes do you have?

Vincenzo de Luca:I think the Indian presidency will provide a further boost to the agenda of G20, we launched some items in Rome, like the fight against the pandemic, contribution to climate change negotiation, reform of financial institutions to make these financial institutions more effective, more coordinated and also we are interested in point raised by India in the agenda of G20, that is Global South. I think we are aware of the issues between the north and south of the world. Working in Africa would like more initiatives between Europe and Africa. Our part will do an important part in this direction.

WION: On the bilateral component, what are the big-ticket deliverables we can see in the relationship, and can we expect a visit from the Italian PM?

Vincenzo de Luca:There was an invitation to our prime minister when there was a meeting in Bali, and we have seen a dramatic increase in the number of visits at the top level.I think, in two fields, we can think we can have further progress. One is energy transition and green economy and the other is the defence industry. We would also like to contribute to India and shape a new vision of the Indo-Pacific, on connectivity, maritime security, and energy transition.

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