Indian Army Chief General MM Naravane meets Italian envoy; discusses bilateral cooperation

Indian Army Chief General MM Naravane on September 21 met with Ambassador of Italy to India Vincenzo De Luca in New Delhi and discussed the future bilateral cooperation in the defence and defence industry. While sharing images from the meeting, the Additional Directorate General of Public Information- Indian Army said on Twitter on Tuesday that Luca called on Naravane and discussed the matters of mutual interest. 

Additionally, the Embassy of Italy in India called the meeting between the Indian army chief and Italian envoy “fruitful” and added that both discussed the future of bilateral cooperation in the defence industry. The meeting came after in July, the Indian Army chief visited Italy during his visit to Italy and UK. The aim of his visit was to further elevate the bilateral strategic expansion. 

India, Italy sign disaster risk reduction pact

Meanwhile, in the wake of increasing natural disasters, the Union Cabinet led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi agreed to the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in the field of Disaster Risk Reduction and Management between India and Italy.  As per media reports, the collaboration will establish a system wherein both the nations will be benefitted from the Disaster management mechanisms of each other. It would also help in enhancing the areas of preparedness, response and capacity building for managing disasters such as forest fires, earthquakes, tsunamis, among several others. 

Earlier, on August 27, Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke with Italian counterpart Mario Draghi to discuss the crisis which were unfolding in Afghanistan at the time as the Taliban had just taken over the country.

As per the official statement released by the government regarding the conversation between the two leaders, “They strongly condemned the horrific terror attack at the Kabul International Airport yesterday and emphasised the need to ensure the safe repatriation of stranded people...The two leaders also discussed other important issues on the G20 agenda, such as climate change. In this context, they exchanged views on other forthcoming multilateral engagements too, such as COP-26.”

 “The two leaders agreed to remain in touch on bilateral and global issues, especially on the situation in Afghanistan," it added.

IMAGE: @adgpi/Twitter