‘Forget Pakistan, only then we will support India’ Rajnath Singh gives direct warning to Italy

New Delhi: India’s Defense Minister Rajnath Singh held a high-level meeting with Italy’s Defense Minister Guido Crosetto on Thursday, April 30. During this, India gave a clear message that Italy will not be able to get India’s full support if it continues defense cooperation with Pakistan.

Do not share any defense technology with Pakistan

In the meeting, Rajnath Singh directly requested Italy not to provide any kind of defense technology, equipment or cooperation to Pakistan. India reminded that Pakistan has been a country promoting terrorism for a long time.

India said that Italy had earlier provided naval platforms, helicopters, drones and surface-to-air missiles to Pakistan. Now India wants that this should not happen in future.

Rajnath Singh stressed that keeping in mind India’s security concerns, Italy should limit its defense cooperation only to reliable partners like India.

Italy’s positive response

There has been a good response from Italy on this issue. The Italian side assured India that the defense technology being given to India will remain completely exclusive to India. It will not be shared with any third country, especially Pakistan.

return of leonardo company

India had imposed sanctions on Italy’s leading defense company Leonardo for almost ten years due to the AgustaWestland VVIP helicopter scam. Now these restrictions have been removed. The company is now looking for big defense deals in India.

This also includes a project to build helicopters for the Indian Navy in collaboration with Adani Defence. The recently purchased Italian torpedoes and the possibility of setting up their production line in India were also discussed in the meeting.

Emphasis on strengthening self-reliant India

Rajnath Singh said after the meeting that both the countries are exploring mutually beneficial ways under India’s Self-reliant India campaign and Italy’s defense cooperation policy. Both sides also agreed on the Bilateral Military Cooperation Plan (MCP) 2026-27 for the future.

The Italian industry delegation talked to many important agencies including the Indian Coast Guard. This meeting can prove to give a new direction to India-Italy defense relations, provided Italy maintains distance from Pakistan.