New Delhi, Apr 11 (PTI) India is an important country for stability in the Indo-Pacific region, Italian Deputy Prime Minister Antonio Tajani said on Friday.

Tajani, also the minister of foreign affairs and international cooperation, is on a two-day visit to India to ramp up bilateral cooperation in a range of areas including trade and investment.

“India is an important country for stability in the Indo-Pacific region. Stability is crucial to strengthen trade,” he said in an address at the ‘Italy-India Business, Science and Technology Forum’.

“Italy and India are natural economic partners. Together we want to strengthen our cooperation for a partnership that looks at the future through higher education, innovation and research,” he said.

Tajani said Italy and India are closer than ever today and that there is huge scope to expand the ties further.

“We want to invest more in India, export more to India, and attract more Indian investments in Italy,” he added.

The Italian deputy prime minister said innovation, AI, super computers, space technology, defence are a few sectors which have potential for joint partnerships.

In his remarks, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar referred to the ‘Joint Strategic Action Plan’ announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Italian PM Giorgia Meloni following their meeting in November last at Rio de Janeiro.

The Action Plan captures their vision for deepening the bilateral strategic partnership, through concrete outcomes that will benefit both countries, he said.

Jaishankar also said that the proposed India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC), will create a “truly new global axis” for economies, energy resources and communications.

The partnership between India and Italy is rooted in our democratic values, respect for our civilizations, culture and heritage, and above all, a common vision for a stable, rules-based and prosperous world, Jaishankar said.

“We meet today in a familiar global political and economic order, but one that is transforming, becoming more complex and unpredictable,” he said.

“Even as we recover from the pandemic, multiple conflicts in Europe, Middle East and Asia, we must recognise that our supply chains are more fragile and our maritime shipping more disrupted.” Jaishankar observed that “geopolitical competition” has sharpened as market shares are leveraged and “economic activities weaponised”.

“Indeed, the over-concentration of manufacturing and the reliability of supply chains have today become overriding concerns,” he said.

“Industry and governments are struggling to keep pace with the impact of rapid digitalization and technological shifts, accentuated by trade barriers and export controls,” he added.

Jaishankar said countries across the world are understandably de-risking by building strong political and economic partnerships, by diversifying their manufacturing and trade partners, and by investing in innovation and research.

We are both witnessing these trends at home, he said Jaishankar said India and Italy should exploit their “natural complementarities” in sectors like energy, transport, food processing and engineering.

“In recent years, India has been working closely with like-minded partners to build such resilient and trusted partnerships that we need now to address not only our economic interests but our strategic priorities as well,” Jaishankar said.

“For us, Italy ranks high in that list. In many sectors, there is a natural complementarity that we need to exploit.” “Whether it is energy or transport, food processing or light engineering, you have the technologies and best practices that make such collaboration fruitful,” he said. PTI MPB ZMN