NEW DELHI, Nov 3: India and Italy have signed the “Mobility and Migration Partnership Agreement” to enable seamless movement of workers, students and professionals.
The agreement was signed after the External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar held a comprehensive and productive meeting with his Italian counterpart Antonio Tajani. Mr Jaishankar is currently in Rome on the last leg of his four-day visit to Portugal and Italy.
“A comprehensive and productive meeting this evening with DPM & FM @Antonio_Tajani,” Mr Jaishankar posted on X after the meeting. “Conversed about deepening our strategic partnership. Agreed that potential in agro-tech, innovation, space, defence and the digital domain should be explored,” he wrote on X.
The two leaders spoke about the West Asia situation, the Ukraine conflict and the Indo-Pacific landscape in detail. “Appreciated Italy’s support for our initiatives and also for the G20 Presidency,” Mr Jaishankar said. “Signed the Mobility and Migration Partnership Agreement and the Cultural Exchange Programme at the end of our talks,” he added.
The Indian community in Italy estimated at 1,80,000 is the third largest community of Indians in Europe after the U.K. and the Netherlands. As first-generation migrants, the majority of them are engaged in economic sectors such as agriculture, dairy farming, the leather industry, construction works and the service industry.
(Manas Dasgupta)