‘Learned from your battle against Covid-19,’ PM Modi tells Italian counterpart

PM Modi made the comments during his virtual talk with his Italian counterpart Giuseppe Conte. “When other countries were just starting to understand the virus, Italy was fighting a battle against it. Your successful battle inspired us and we all took lessons from Italy,” he told Conte.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday praised Italy for its fight against the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) and said that “all of us took lessons” from the European country as he committed to work to expand India’s bilateral relationship further.

PM Modi made the comments during his virtual talk with his Italian counterpart Giuseppe Conte. “When other countries were just starting to understand the virus, Italy was fighting a battle against it. Your successful battle inspired us and we all took lessons from Italy,” he told Conte.

Speaking further on Covid-19, PM Modi said like World War II, the coronavirus pandemic will be a watershed moment. “We have to adapt ourselves for the post-Covid-19 world and the challenges that will arise,” he said. “I am confident, after talks, our relationship will get stronger, we will develop more understanding. We will also identify new areas of cooperation,” he also said.

PM Modi also remembered Conte’s 2018 India visit for tax summit and said, the mutual exchange between India and Italy gained immense momentum after the talks. “I am happy to know that, the Italian Parliament established Italy-India friendship group. I hope we will get an opportunity to welcome Italian parliamentarians in India after the Covid-19 pandemic,” he added.

During the PM Modi and Conte meet, India and Italy are set to sign about a dozen agreements covering areas such as trade, investment, infrastructure, environment, fisheries, media and filmmaking. The two sides are also expected to explore the possibility of increasing Italian investments in India and enhancing defence cooperation and manufacturing under the Make in India initiative.

The meeting, the latest in a string of virtual engagements by Modi after his successful summits with Australia and the European Union (EU), is part of New Delhi’s enhanced focus on Europe against the backdrop of a global rebalancing in the post-Covid-19 scenario. Leading EU players, such as Germany and France, have also signalled a greater interest in the Indo-Pacific region.