Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said Wednesday that the two nations were taking a big step forward by raising the level of relations to that of a special strategic partnership as they seek to lift annual bilateral trade to the 20-billion euros mark after meeting Premier Giorgia Meloni in Rome.

“There’s a new confidence, we’re taking our relations a step further by announcing the strategic partnership, which follows the timeline to have bilateral trade of 20 billion euros,” Modi told a joint press conference with Meloni.

“More than 800 Italian companies are active India.

“There’s new enthusiasm and confidence”.

The Italian embassy in Rome says on its website that bilateral trade between India and Italy came in at 14.37 billion euros in 2024.