India, Italy discuss leaders’ dialogues

New Delhi: India and Italy have discussed raising political contacts between the two nations through an annual leaders level dialogue, according to persons aware of the matter. The development is significant as it represents an effort to move bilateral ties forward after years of tensions due to the AgustaWestland bribery scandal and the killing of Indian fishermen by Italian marines.

However, both sides have made an effort to restore bilateral ties and high level political contacts in the recent past.

While leaders of both countries have met every year since 2021, both sides are considering institution of formal annual leaders dialogue, which India has already created with major partners like Russia and Japan.

Queries to the Indian and Italian foreign ministries were unanswered at press time. Discussions took place on the matter prior to the visit of Italian prime minister Giorgia Meloni to India in March, according to persons with knowledge of the talks.

It was decided to make the institution of formal annual leaders level dialogue a future deliverable for the partnership.

Bilateral ties took a downturn starting in 2012 when two Italian marines shot and killed Indian fishermen off the coast of Kerala after mistaking them for pirates. This sparked a diplomatic crisis as New Delhi and Rome clashed over how and where the two marines would be prosecuted. After a bitterly contested diplomatic battle that generated considerable political heat in India, the matter was referred to an international body. Permanent Court of Arbitration, based in the Hague, ruled in 2020 that accused marines will be tried in Italy, not India. However, it ordered Rome to pay New Delhi compensation.

Bilateral ties were also impacted by the AgustaWestland chopper scandal, which implicated a subsidiary of Italian defence giant Leonardo spA (then known as Finmeccanica). In 2012-13, AgustaWestland was accused of bribing Indian politicians and defence officials in order to win a ₹3,600 crore contract to supply choppers. As news of the scandal broke, the Ministry of Defence suspended Leonardo spA, AgustaWestland’s parent company, from competing for Indian defence contracts. Given Leonardo’s position as one of the world’s most prominent defence companies, this development may have stymied the growth of defence relationship between New Delhi and Rome.

However, both countries have attempted to “reboot” ties in the last few years. Mint earlier reported that India and Italy are set to sign a bilateral defence cooperation pact in May and are also close to finalising a migration and mobility agreement. This has followed a concerted period of diplomatic engagement between top diplomats and the foreign ministers of both countries. Prime Minister Meloni’s visit in March 2023, during which she also attended the MEA’s flagship Raisina Dialogue as chief guest, proved an important step in moving bilateral ties forward.

In line with the court’s ruling, India’s Supreme Court closed hearings into the matter in 2021. In that same year, India revoked the ban on Italian defence firm Leonardo SpA, which was caught up in the AgustaWestland chopper scandal.

The political heat generated by the Italian marines case stalled the wider security partnership between the two countries.