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The Modi-Meloni Chemistry: How Italy Became The Heart Of India's New Foreign Policy Bet

| May 20, 2026, 08:00:00 AM | TOI.in
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The internet noticed their chemistry first. Clips of PM Modi and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni sharing warm, unscripted moments at multilateral summits racked up millions of views. But while the world was watching the smiles, India was building an architecture. A corridor. A cable. A trade deal that could define India's next decade. Washington is unpredictable. Beijing is strategically complicated. Moscow is geopolitically diminished. In that vacuum, Europe — and Italy in particular — has emerged as India's most consequential new bet. The IMEC corridor anchors Italy as Europe's gateway to the Indo-Pacific. A fibre-optic cable now connects Indian servers to the port of Genoa. Bilateral trade has crossed $16.77 billion. Tata's $3.8 billion Iveco acquisition made history. And Modi is pushing hard for the India-EU Free Trade Agreement. The Modi-Meloni bond is not a photo opportunity. It is foreign policy in motion.

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