Prime Minister Narendra Modi planted a black mulberry sapling with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni in Rome on Wednesday. PM Modi did this work under the ‘One Tree in the Name of Mother’ campaign. PM Modi went to Italy on a two-day tour. He returned to the country on Thursday.
Foreign Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said that this tree connects India and Italy through its food, medicinal and cultural importance. Posting on Twitter, Jaiswal said, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni planted a black mulberry plant in Rome. This plant, known as ‘Krishna Toot’ in India, connects India and Italy through its food, medicinal and cultural importance. This plantation is another step towards the ‘Ek Tree Maa Ke Naam’ initiative which promotes environmental awareness and sustainable lifestyle.
Prime Minister Modi praised Meloni’s dedication to furthering India-Italy friendship. Also, while posting on X, he wrote that the conversation with Prime Minister Meloni was very good. His commitment to advance India-Italy friendship is praiseworthy. Besides, mutual relations between the two countries have progressed significantly in trade, space, technology and other fields. To further deepen ties, we have elevated our relations to the level of Special Strategic Partnership.
What did the Italian PM say?
Italy’s Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni also posted on X and wrote that deep changes are taking place in the international system. The partnership between Italy and India is taking a new and better form.
He further said that the partnership between Italy and India is guided by frequent meetings at the highest political and institutional levels and is taking a new and better form that combines the creativity of our societies and the wisdom of our ancient civilizations.
What did the Foreign Ministry say?
Issuing a statement, the Ministry of External Affairs said that the two Prime Ministers welcomed the strong pace of high-level meetings and the tremendous growth and diversity in bilateral cooperation and also decided to elevate the India-Italy Strategic Partnership to the level of a Special Strategic Partnership. He told that it was also agreed to hold annual meetings of the leaders, which will include meetings held during multilateral programs as well as ministerial level and institutional level meetings.
The ministry also said that the two leaders had a comprehensive discussion covering the entire scope of India-Italy partnership. The two leaders reviewed the progress made in bilateral cooperation in all areas of the Joint Strategic Action Plan 2025-2029. The two leaders agreed to further enhance cooperation in trade and investment, defense and security, science and technology, research and innovation, space, energy, AI and critical technologies, education, culture and people-to-people ties. They also decided to create a foreign minister-level mechanism for regular review of the Joint Strategic Action Plan.
The leaders also noted the new momentum in bilateral economic and trade relations through increased investment and efforts to build long-lasting cooperation. He also welcomed the exchange of three business forums last year. He also met Italian and Indian CEOs representing sectors such as defence, digital, energy transition, infrastructure and logistics. Also, keeping in mind the target of increasing bilateral trade to 20 billion euros by 2029, both the leaders agreed to take advantage of the opportunities provided by the Free Trade Agreement of India and the European Union and called for its implementation as soon as possible, the statement said.
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