New Delhi, November 13 (IANS). The long standing partnership between India and Italy in the field of science and technology will be further strengthened. Both countries have agreed to pursue initiatives related to joint research and innovation. This information was given in an official statement released on Friday.
This agreement was reached during the bilateral meeting between Union Minister of State Dr. Jitendra Singh and Italy's University and Research Minister Anna Maria Bernini. The meeting discussed ways to transform the India-Italy strategic partnership into practical scientific cooperation, strengthen institutional arrangements and explore new opportunities for joint research in areas of emerging technologies.
Both the countries are preparing to launch a new joint research program in 2027 under a mutual Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), for which some key areas have been identified. These include Artificial Intelligence (AI), high-performance computing and big data. Apart from this, joint research will also be conducted on topics related to clean technology, hydrogen, renewable energy and energy sector transformation.
Biotechnology and biomedical research will also be an important part of this program. Under this, special attention will be given to advanced areas like gene therapy, mRNA technology and biomanufacturing.
Union Minister Dr. Jitendra Singh expressed hope that India and Italy will continue to pursue practical cooperation by taking advantage of their respective strong systems of science, technology and innovation. He also assured full cooperation from India in this direction.
The Minister said that the first inter-governmental agreement in the field of science and technology between India and Italy was signed in 1978. Subsequently this agreement was renewed on 28 November 2003.
Relations between India and Italy were given the status of strategic partnership in the year 2023. After this, in November 2024, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Italian Prime Minister Georgia Meloni announced the Joint Strategic Action Plan (JSAP) for 2025-2029.
Moving forward in this direction, in April 2025, a delegation led by Italian Deputy Prime Minister Antonio Tajani visited Delhi. Italy's University and Research Minister Anna Maria Bernini was also included in this delegation.
During the visit, an MoU was signed between the Ministry of Science and Technology of India and the Ministry of Universities and Research (MUR) of Italy.
Joint activities under the Science and Technology Agreement between India and Italy are being pursued through the Indo-Italian Executive Program of Cooperation (EPOC).
According to government data, more than 150 joint projects have been completed so far under this program.
Currently, the EPOC for the period 2025-27 was signed on 10 April 2025, under which both the countries agreed to jointly finance 10 proposals related to exchange of researchers and 10 proposals related to important research.
The first Science and Innovation Dialogue between India and Italy was held on 11 April 2025 in New Delhi. The second edition of this dialogue is being organized in 2026 to further the cooperation between the two countries.
The objective of this initiative is to further broaden cooperation between scientific institutions, researchers and innovation organizations of the two countries.
–IANS
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