India and Italy on Wednesday announced to elevate their bilateral relationship to a “special strategic partnership” and committed to increase their annual bilateral trade to 20 billion euros by 2029.The decisions were announced after Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Italian counterpart Giorgia Meloni met in Rome.The two sides announced 15 outcomes, including an India-Italy defence industrial roadmap for cooperation in defence manufacturing and critical minerals. Another pact facilitates the mobility of Indian nurses to Italy, while India’s export of marine products will be promoted in Italy.The India-Italy bilateral trade stood at 14.25 billion euros in 2025. India’s exports were at 8.55 billion euros, while India imported 5.70 billion euros worth of goods from Italy.Modi said the India-Italy defence industrial roadmap had opened new avenues for co-development and co-production, while cooperation in shipping, port modernisation, logistics and the blue economy would deepen further given that both countries were major maritime powers.Modi also underlined the complementary strengths of the two economies, saying Italy was globally recognised for “design and precision”, while India had emerged as a “powerhouse of scale, talent and affordable innovation”. He said the two nations would move forward with the shared vision of “design and develop in India and Italy, and deliver for the world”.The two prime ministers also discussed the situation in Ukraine and the conflict in West Asia, stressing the need for restoring freedom of navigation.The two sides reviewed their Joint Strategic Action Plan 2025-2029, a comprehensive roadmap for cooperation across various sectors. Speaking at a joint press conference in Rome, PM Modi said, “India-Italy Joint Strategic Action Plan 2025-2029 provides a practical and futuristic structure to our partnership. We are moving forward on this in a time-bound manner.”“Trade between our countries is moving towards the 20-billion euro target. Over 400 Italian companies in India are contributing to India’s growth story,” Modi said.Calling the day “historic” for ties between the two nations, Meloni said Modi’s visit marked the first bilateral mission by an Indian Prime Minister to Italy since 2000, adding that both sides had decided to “revitalise” relations and take them “to the highest level ever.”The Italian Prime Minister described Modi as a “friend” and said the upgraded partnership was the culmination of sustained efforts by both governments to strengthen bilateral engagement across multiple sectors.Meloni said her government strongly believed in further developing the India-Middle East-Europe Corridor.Modi said both countries shared the view that terrorism remained a serious challenge for humanity and highlighted their joint efforts against terror financing as a global example of how “responsible democracies” must move beyond condemnation and take concrete action to dismantle financial networks supporting terrorism.Praising Meloni’s leadership, Modi said the India-Italy relations had gained “new momentum, new direction and new self-confidence”.Italy is home to the largest Indian diaspora in the European Union, with 1,86,833 Indians living and working there. More than 5,100 Indian students are currently studying at Italian universities.