India and Italy on Tuesday signed a defence cooperation agreement to promote cooperation in varied defence domains such as “security and defence policy, R&D, education in military field, maritime domain awareness, sharing of defence information and industrial cooperation, including co-development, co-production and setting up of joint ventures”. This was concluded after the bilateral talks between Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and his Italian counterpart Guido Crosetto in Rome.
Mr. Singh is on a visit to Italy and France from October 9 to 12.
“During the meeting, both sides discussed a host of defence cooperation issues, including training, sharing of information, maritime exercises and maritime security. The focus was on the opportunities in defence industrial cooperation,” the Ministry said in a statement on the bilateral talks. “The two Ministers discussed the complementary capacities of India and Italy in defence and the possibilities of joint development.”
