India-Italy Military Cooperation Group Meeting

11th edition of India-Italy Military Cooperation Group (MCG) meeting was held from 31 May 2022 to 01 June 22 at Rome, Italy.

Strengthening ongoing defence engagements between the two countries
Implementing new initiatives under the existing bilateral defence cooperation mechanism.

The Headquarters Integrated Defence Staff (HQ IDS) of India reported that both sides expressed satisfaction at the broad scope and depth of the bilateral military cooperation
And also discussed operationalising new avenues to further enhance bilateral military ties.

The India – Italy Military Cooperation Group (MCG) is a forum established to boost defence cooperation between the two countries.
It holds regular talks at the strategic and operational levels between the headquarters, integrated defence staff and the joint staff headquarters of the Indian and Italian armed forces.

Historical Relation
- For almost 2000 years, people from these two ancient civilizations have known, communicated, and traded with one another. In the spice trade, Italian port cities were key commercial posts.
- Marco Polo published his travelogue The Travels of Marco Polo in which he described the life and customs in India at the end of the 13th century.
- During World War II, Indian troops serving with the British Indian Army were stationed in Italy. The Rajputana Rifles and the Gurkha Rifles were among them.

Cultural Relations
- After the United Kingdom and the Netherlands, Italy has the third largest Indian community in the European Union, with an estimated 1,80,000 people.
- In 1976, a cultural cooperation agreement was struck.
- It comprises the Italy-India Cultural Exchange Program (CEP), which involves student exchanges in language programmes and other academic courses.

Political Relation
- Political relations between India and Italy were established in 1947.
- Both countries have had a regular exchange of visits at the political and official levels.
- Share common platforms like G20 and UN.

Economic Relations
- Italy is India’s fifth largest trading partner among EU nations.
- The petrochemical, plastic, textile, and steel industries propel Indian exports to Italy. Italy’s exports to India account for 1% of the country’s total imports.
- Italy is the 27th largest global supplier to India, and the 10th largest market for Indian exports.
- Between April 2000 and June 2018, Italy’s investment in India totaled slightly less than $3 billion.
- November 29, 2017, India and Italy signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) for enhancing bilateral cooperation in the health sector.
- General and special purpose machinery, machine tools, metallurgical materials, and engineering items are the most common imports from Italy.
- Trade
  - India – Italy has free trade agreement and Annual turnover is around $8 billion USD, with roughly $1 billion USD going to India.
  - TCS, Wipro, Larsen & Toubro, and Mahindra & Mahindra are among the Indian companies active in Italy.
Defence Relation
- In 2018, the Joint Defence Committee was formed to improve and foster “organised engagement” between Indian and Italian defence companies.
- Italy backed India’s “intensified engagement” with nonproliferation regimes such as the Wassenaar Arrangement, the Australia Group, and the Nuclear Suppliers’ Group (NSG), which bolster global nonproliferation efforts.
- Exercise – Maritime Partnership Exercise , PASSEX

Science and Tech Relation
- Since 1978, there has been a Science and Technology Cooperation Agreement.
- The agreement calls for three annual action plans, with a total of thirty partnered research projects possible.
- Electronics, biotechnology, design engineering, automotive technologies, energy, and other fields of cooperative study are among the most important.

Lower trade between both countries is a irritant in India – Italy relation.
The Enrica Lexie Case — In 2012, two Indian fishermen were killed by Italian marines. The incident was a huge blunder, and the tragedy immediately became politicized.
Italy’s current political instability – the country is in a hazardous position – with a nationalist, naturalist, near-fascist on one side and a populist movement on the other.

Pic Courtesy: Times of India , Frontline – The Hindu, Indian Express

Content Source: PIB