India and Italy to soon sign MoU in defence sector: Ambassador Vincenzo Luca

Mumbai: Italy's Ambassador to India Vincenzo De Luca has said the two countries would soon sign a bilateral pact in the defence sector to ramp up their military ties and maintained that Rome was working hard to contribute to the 'Make in India' programme.

In a move to enhance navy-to-navy cooperation between the two countries, Italian Navy's warship ITS Morosini is on a port visit to Mumbai from August 10 to 13. Italian Navy officials will also meet the top brass of the Mumbai-headquartered Western Naval Command during this period.

"We are working very hard to contribute to the programme of self-reliance, Make in India," Luca said on Thursday at a press conference here.

He said that there are some specific technologies where Italy can add value to the Make in India programme, namely torpedo, helicopter, radar, electronic warfare and shipyard.

Make in India is the Narendra Modi government's flagship programme that aspires to facilitate investment, foster innovation, enhance skill development and build best-in-class manufacturing infrastructure.

"We will very soon sign a bilateral MoU in the defence sector," added the Italian envoy.

He said an MoU (memorandum of understanding) in the defence sector already exists between the two sides, but it will be renewed which will further industrial collaboration after the two countries elevated their ties to strategic partnership earlier this year.

ITS Morosini, which is in Mumbai, had earlier visited Singapore, Indonesia, the Philippines, Japan, South Korea and Bangladesh. It will head to Oman after India.

"In the framework of the current Italian Navy's five-month naval diplomacy campaign throughout the Indo-Pacific area, this visit aims at demonstrating Italy's commitment towards the region and at strengthening bilateral cooperation and mutual understanding between navies and showing the excellence of Italian naval and defence industry," the Italian embassy said in a statement.

Commissioned in October 2022, ITS Morosini is one of the latest warships in the Italian Navy fleet and it can reach the speed of 32 knots and has a very powerful propulsion system.

The ship, which can accommodate two helicopters, also has a naval cockpit which is one of its kind, said the statement.