Horrendous, no room for barbarity in democratic societies: Italy Dy PM Tajani on Pahalgam attack

The Italian Deputy PM, who visited India on April 11 and 12, also spoke about the deliverables in cooperation across sectors, including defence

Expressing concern over the “horrendous” terrorist attack against tourists in Pahalgam, Italian Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani has conveyed Italy’s commitment against terrorism as “unshakable” and willingness to cooperate in the fight against terrorism.

On the rapport between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Italian PM Giorgia Meloni, Tajani, in an interview to The Indian Express, said it is “undoubtedly based on a good chemistry, and on a similar approach: the pursuit of the national interest without ideological prejudices”. He referenced the hashtag “#melodi” and said he viewed promising complementarities at the root of the close ties between Italy and India.

India just witnessed a terrorist attack in J&K’s Pahalgam, in which 26 people were killed. What is your comment?

I was struck by the horrendous terrorist attack that took place in Pahalgam, targeting civilians, especially tourists.  The Italian government and the whole country immediately expressed their closeness to the families of the victims, the people of India and your institutions. Italy’s commitment against terrorism is firm and unshakable. This is also what PM Meloni conveyed to PM Modi in the conversation they had. We are ready to cooperate in the fight against terrorism. The principles of freedom and tolerance that uphold our democratic societies admit no room for barbarity.

And this tragedy came just as the world was mourning the loss of Pope Francis. The Pontiff has also been a protagonist of international politics. What is his legacy and the message he leaves to world leaders?

The importance of peace and the centrality of the human being. Until his last moment, in his last Easter homily, Pope Francis has continued to believe in and work for peace. He has always highlighted the suffering that war, all wars, inflict especially to the weakest ones, to women, to children. The message he leaves is that leading is serving. That the human being must remain at the centre, as he underscored at the Italian G7, talking about the potential but also the risks of artificial intelligence. As former President of the European Parliament, I also remember the importance he attached to the role Europe can play, especially in times of crisis.

You just visited India. Let’s talk about the bilateral relations: How are India and Italy proceeding on the roadmap agreed in November last year?

My visit to Delhi was meant to give further impetus to many areas of cooperation identified in the Joint Action Plan signed by the two Prime Ministers only five months ago. Starting with political dialogue, of course. We focused also on economy – both trade and investments – space and defence, energy transition, culture, sport, science and technology. We put a special emphasis on innovation. My commitment is to strengthen and broaden our strategic partnership, also in the perspective of the IMEC initiative. The Indo-Mediterranean corridor is actually the contemporary version of the ancient trade route connecting Rome to India at the time of Emperor Augustus. Ours is a centuries-old friendship.

What were the key takeaways from the visit?

More than 700 delegates, almost 500 companies, over 400 B2B meetings. Italian companies announced new investments for 470 million euros. Governmental agencies – Investindia, Cassa Depositi e Prestiti and SIMEST – signed an MOU to spur further investments.

SIMEST, the joint stock company helping our enterprises grow abroad, opened an office in Delhi. It can now count on a 500 million euros line of financing dedicated to operations in India. Our export-credit agency SACE increased its 3 billion euros in guarantees for Indian buyers by additional 200 million euros.

We will create “Innovit Bangalore”, a centre to facilitate synergies between innovation ecosystems. We will propose an acceleration programme in India for start-ups. The business forum was such a success that we will repeat it soon. Together with Minister (Piyush) Goyal, we will deepen the economic dialogue in Brescia, near Milan, one of the most important industrial hubs in Italy. The Forum for Growth will involve companies from the two countries. Save the date: June 5th in Brescia.

There were also some deliverables in the areas of science, sport and culture.

We had a science dialogue between universities, research centres and Indian counterparts, including the best IIT, to explore complementarities in all the main scientific sectors. A Space Attache will be posted to our Embassy in Delhi and our governments will soon hold a bilateral space dialogue. A second Scientific Attache will also join the Italy team in India, operating from the Consulate General in Bengaluru. We have signed two agreements with your Ministry of Science. They will foster joint initiatives and mobility of researchers in key areas such as biomedical robotics, green energy, AI, quantum, and gene therapy, among others. I was pleased to highlight the great potential of further India-Italy dialogue in culture, sport, food and wine. Together with the Minister for External Affairs Dr Jaishankar, we unveiled Caravaggio’s ‘Magdalene in Ecstasy’ at the Italian Embassy Cultural Centre in Delhi – the first time ever in India for a giant of universal art like Caravaggio. I also inaugurated the ‘Mosaic’ exhibition at the Humayun’s Tomb Museum: an immersive journey through 2000 years of history and a fascinating display of ancient Roman mosaics. ‘Fabrica’ is another exhibition, at Crafts Museum, showcasing craftsmanship and innovation in the Italian textile sector. And sport, which is a key part of our culture. We launched the ‘Common goal’ initiative’. It will take coaches from the Italian football league Serie A clubs to teach football to children from underprivileged backgrounds in several cities in India. We have a collaboration programme (in the opposite direction) also in cricket.

We brought starred chefs to highlight the candidature of the Italian cuisine to the UNESCO patrimony. Finally, the main Italian news agency announced the opening of ANSA-India, a portal dedicated to your country, and decided to open a full-fledged office in Delhi.

The India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor was launched during PM Meloni’s visit for the G20 summit in 2023. What’s the update on IMEC, and the impact of the conflict in the Middle East?

IMEC is for us a strategic and visionary project. It will make a crucial contribution to strengthening Indo-Mediterranean connectivity and trade, enhancing exchanges, investments and data flows. But it can also have a positive impact on the peace process in the Middle East. We have just nominated a special envoy for IMEC: Ambassador Talo, former Diplomatic Advisor to Prime Minister Meloni. And I intend to convene a Foreign Ministers’ meeting in Trieste engaging the countries along the IMEC corridor.

Italy had long been a defence partner, how has the defence relationship progressed in the last few years?

Over the last two years, we witnessed an increase in the number of port calls. We have had four ships of our Navy stationed at Indian docks since 2023 and one more is due to arrive soon. In December last year, Minister of Enterprises and Made in Italy Urso visited Mumbai on the occasion of the port call of Nave Vespucci. In February this year, Undersecretary of Defence Perego was in Bengaluru for the AeroIndia defence fair. Direct contacts between defence companies are ongoing. The latest ones have unfolded at the Business Forum in Delhi and in the margins of the Joint Defence Committee in Rome, with the visit of your Secretary Defence. We intend to give continuity to this dynamic dialogue. Our Defence Minister also intends to visit India. The goal is to identify co-development and co-production projects, taking advantage of synergies between our defence industries.

How do you see the US administration led by President Donald Trump’s imposition of universal tariffs playing out in the world?

We are not in favour of hasty reactions and escalation of measures. A trade war does not benefit anyone. This is our position within the EU, which has exclusive competence on tariffs and trade. Prime Minister Meloni’s meeting with President Trump was a decisive step towards strengthening Italy’s relationship with the US and resuming together a path of cooperation that will consolidate America’s relations with all of Europe.

The US is our ally and an indispensable partner. Our government is working for a concrete relaunch of relations with Washington. The issue of tariffs must be carefully addressed but without panic. We are convinced that the solution lies in negotiation and not in frontal opposition. market.

How does the rapport between PMs Modi and Meloni impact the bilateral ties?

The relationship between our leaders and governments is very good. It is undoubtedly based on a good chemistry, and on a similar approach: the pursuit of the national interest without ideological prejudices. Besides #melodi, at the root of the Italy-India close relationship I rather see structural and promising complementarities. We are both democracies, heirs to millenary-old civilisations. We are nations rich in culture and at the heart of a common region, the Indo-Mediterranean, set to become evermore integrated.

How are the FTA negotiations between India and Europe progressing?

Italy strongly supports the conclusion of the FTA. Especially nowadays, with high tariffs, the signature of the Agreement would be an important game changer for the cooperation between two important economic blocs like the EU and India, which can exploit all the unexpressed potential of their trade and industrial partnership. India is a strategic market for Italian companies and exports. But to reach the agreement, both sides need to show flexibility.

Immigration is an issue in Italy, does that impact mobility of Indians to Italy?

No, it does not. We precisely signed a bilateral agreement on mobility and migration with India to encourage the circulation of talent and avoid irregular migration, which benefits neither the countries of origin nor the countries of destination. In Italy, we host an important community of citizens of Indian origin, perfectly integrated in our economy and society. Our goal is to further improve the professional level of Indian integration of Indian talents, if they wish to come live and work in our country. The mobility agreement is the ideal tool to make it happen.