 "Is Giorgia Meloni’s ‘Namaste’ greeting to G7 leaders a nod to her friendship with PM Modi?")
The ‘Melodi Jodi’ will be reunited again today (14 June) as Prime Minister Narendra Modi has arrived in Italy’s Apulia to attend the outreach session of the G7 Summit and will hold a bilateral meet with Giorgia Meloni among other world leaders.
This is PM Modi’s first foreign trip as he begins his third term after being sworn in on 9 June at India’s Rashtrapati Bhavan. Before departing for Italy, PM Modi said he was “glad” that his first foreign visit in his third consecutive term as PM was to the European nation for the G7 Summit.
As the two leaders — PM Modi and Italian PM Giorgia Meloni — gear up for a meet, let’s take a look back at their friendship and how they have been able to cement stronger, closer India-Italy ties.
Meloni’s Namaste moment
While Modi will attend the G7 Summit from today, Meloni and other G7 leaders began their meet on Thursday (13 June). And the Italian PM began the meet, perhaps, with a nod to her Indian ‘friend’ by welcoming the several delegates and heads of government with a ‘namaste’.
On the inaugural day of the summit, Meloni was seen welcoming European Union chief Ursula von der Leyen with folded hands, signifying the traditional Indian greeting ‘namaste’. In another video, she can be seen welcoming German chancellor Olaf Scholz with a namaste.
Giorgia Meloni Namaste karna Sikh gai hai. pic.twitter.com/JNXJAS2H80
— Himanshi Bisht (@himanshi__bisht) June 13, 2024
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The two leaders — Modi and Meloni — now often refer to each other as ‘good friends’. In fact, Meloni was the first European leader to congratulate Modi for securing a third consecutive term and said she will continue to work together with the Indian government to deepen ties between Italy and India.
Congratulazioni a @narendramodi per la nuova vittoria elettorale e i miei auguri più affettuosi di buon lavoro. Certa che continueremo a lavorare insieme per rafforzare l'amicizia che unisce Italia e India e consolidare la cooperazione sui diversi temi che ci legano, per il… pic.twitter.com/v5XJAqkwOz
— Giorgia Meloni (@GiorgiaMeloni) June 4, 2024
Prior to Modi’s Italy visit, the two of them had last met in Dubai for the COP28 meet in December last year. It was then that Meloni had posted a selfie of the two, captioning it: ‘Good friends at COP28. #Melodi.”
The image quickly went viral with netizens going gaga over the use of the hashtag, which is a mix of the two leaders’ surnames. After Meloni posted the image, which since then went viral, PM Modi also reacted to it, writing: “Meeting friends is always a delight.”
Modi and Meloni also set the G20 Summit in New Delhi last September abuzz with their camaraderie. Their rapport at the summit generated a flood of memes on Indian social media.
**Also read: How Italy’s Giorgia Meloni has emerged as the ‘biggest’ leader among the G7**And it seems that their friendship really hit the ground in March last year when Meloni travelled to India after being invited as the chief guest and keynote speaker at the inaugural session of the eighth Raisina Dialogue. Notably, while that was Meloni’s first visit to India, it was also the first visit by an Italian prime minister in five years.
The meet also commemorated the 75th anniversary of diplomatic relations between India and Italy.
Meloni had also urged her ‘good friend’ Modi to play a central role in facilitating a negotiating process to end Russia’s war against Ukraine. “India must play a central role in facilitating a negotiating process for cessation of hostilities” in Ukraine, Meloni said.
India-Italy ties strengthened
But beyond the optics — the selfies and wishes on social media — Meloni and Modi have turned around India and Italy’s ties. In 2012, relations between the two countries nosedived when India prosecuted two Italian marines in the deaths of two Indian fishermen, and in 2014 after India cancelled a $670 million contract for 12 helicopters after Italian defence giant Finmeccanica was accused of bribing Indian contacts to secure the deal.
However, work to repair the ties resumed in 2018 and when Meloni took over office in 2022, she continued with it. In fact, it was after her visit to India that the bilateral relationship was elevated to the level of Strategic Partnership. Moreover, a startup bridge between Indian and Italian startup companies was also established.
Even at the G20 meet in New Delhi, the two were on the same page on the matter of the India-Middle East Europe economic corridor. Furthermore, Italy’s decision to pull out of China’s Belt and Road Initiative added another strategic dimension to the ties.
In 2021-2022, India-Italy had a bilateral trade of $13.229 billion, with Rome being India’s fourth largest trading partner in the EU. Over 600 large Italian companies are active in India, covering varied sectors. Italian brands such as Fiat and Piaggio to the recent Ferrero Roche, KinderJoy, Tic Tac, etc are household names in India.
Meloni has also conveyed to Modi her government’s desire to reboot defence ties with India. Modi said there were ample opportunities in defence manufacturing and co-production.
With inputs from agencies
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