Italy ready to help India build defence industry, says Italian Ambassador Bartoli

Italy's Ambassador to India, Antonio Enrico Bartoli, has described the bilateral relationship as enjoying "great momentum", with intensified cooperation across defence, trade, space and connectivity following high-level visits, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi's trip to Rome earlier this year.

In an exclusive interview to WION's Sidhant Sibal, Ambassador Bartoli said, "I see a great momentum...," pointing to the 2025-2029 Joint Action Plan as the driver of dialogue across political, economic, defence, space, energy and cultural domains.

Leaders on both sides have played a pivotal role. Bartoli noted that frequent high-level engagements, including ministerial visits and parliamentary exchanges, have built genuine convergence. "Leadership is important... but I think the strength of our relations is in the fact that it is a genuine win-win so there are mutual interests and shared priorities," he emphasised.

Both countries, as peninsulas with strong industrial bases and democratic values, benefit from resilient supply chains and boosted exports.

On trade, Italy strongly supports concluding the EU-India Free Trade Agreement by the end of 2026. Bartoli argued the deal would lower barriers for small and medium Italian enterprises and attract investment to India. Key sectors include machinery (40% of Italian exports), auto components, chemicals and agrifood.

"One of the big objectives of FTA is to make life easier for companies," he said. The leaders have set an ambitious target of €20 billion in trade by 2029, with efforts to balance flows and boost Indian investment in Italy.

Defence cooperation has advanced significantly. Following the 2023 defence agreement and the recent Italian Defence Minister's visit, the two sides adopted a joint industrial roadmap for co-design, co-development and co-production. "Once again it is a win-win," Bartoli explained. "You want to develop greater defence industry. We have cutting-edge technologies... we can go bigger, faster and cheaper" through collaboration, leveraging India's market scale. During PM Modi's visit maritime dialogue was also announced.

Space and Indo-Pacific engagement are also expanding. Italy has included India in high-level space dialogues alongside the US, UK and Japan, with business missions and interest in low-Earth orbit, lunar/Mars programmes, satellites and Earth observation. In the Indo-Pacific, joint naval exercises and port calls underscore shared interests in freedom of navigation.

On the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC), he acknowledged current challenges from regional conflicts but stressed the project's long-term necessity. Practical steps include a data cable from Mumbai to Genoa and port collaboration for faster customs procedures.

People-to-people ties are deepening through professional mobility, particularly nurses to address Italy's demographic needs, and cultural initiatives. Cultural ties have also grown. Major exhibitions of Caravaggio and Botticelli have drawn crowds in India, while 2027 has been designated the Year of Italian Culture and Tourism in India.