India and Italy Declared the Year 2027 as the ‘Year of Culture and Tourism’

India and Italy will celebrate the year 2027 as the “Year of Culture and Tourism” to promote cultural exchanges and strengthen dialogue between the two ancient civilizations.

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said that this initiative would deepen mutual understanding and further strengthen cultural diplomacy between the two countries.

She stated that strong relations between nations are measured not only through political and economic ties, but also through connections between people and societies.

She also said that India and Italy would work towards further developing the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC).

Meloni described IMEC as a major connectivity and economic corridor linking Europe, the Middle East, and India, with the potential to strengthen trade, investment, and supply-chain resilience.

At the invitation of Giorgia Meloni, President of the Council of Ministers of the Italian Republic, Prime Minister Narendra Modi paid an official visit to Italy from 19–20 May 2026.

The two leaders appreciated the concrete progress achieved across various pillars of the “Joint Strategic Action Plan 2025–2029,” adopted during their meeting at the G20 Summit held in Rio de Janeiro in November 2024.

They agreed to establish a mechanism led by the Foreign Ministers to review the “India–Italy Joint Strategic Action Plan 2025–29” and provide strategic guidance to the “India–Italy Strategic Partnership.”

Areas of Cooperation Between India and Italy

The two sides announced the establishment of INNOVIT India, an innovation hub based in India.

In April 2025, a meeting of Indian and Italian universities and research centres was held in Delhi, and both countries expressed hope of organizing its next edition in Italy later this year.

Advancing the Executive Programme for Scientific Cooperation 2025–2027, both sides supported the implementation of joint projects and the facilitation of researcher mobility in the fields of quantum technologies, renewable energy, green hydrogen, and sustainable blue economy.

Both Prime Ministers acknowledged the long-standing scientific cooperation between Indian academia and the International Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP) in Trieste. The agreement also supported activities related to Indian researchers’ access to the synchrotron radiation facility at Elettra.

The two leaders agreed to launch a “Dialogue on Maritime Security” aimed at enhancing cooperation, coordination, and exchange of information and best practices in the maritime domain.

Both leaders also welcomed the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between Italy’s Guardia di Finanza and India’s Directorate of Enforcement.

Key Facts About the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC)

IMEC was announced in September 2023 during the G20 Summit in New Delhi after a meeting between the leaders of India, the United States, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Saudi Arabia, Italy, France, Germany, and the European Commission.

Its total length is approximately 4,800 kilometres. This vast multimodal trade route includes nearly 1,200 kilometres of railway lines and around 3,600 kilometres of maritime and ship-to-rail links connecting Asia, the Middle East, and Europe.

It is a comprehensive transport network linking India, the Middle East, and Europe through rail, road, and maritime routes.

Two separate corridors have been proposed under IMEC:

Eastern Corridor: Will connect India to Gulf countries.

Northern Corridor: Will connect Gulf countries with Europe.

The proposed corridor also includes Israel’s Haifa Port.

Rapid progress is being made in the eastern section of the corridor connecting UAE and Indian ports.

Compared to transportation through the Suez Canal, the proposed IMEC corridor is expected to reduce transit time between its eastern and western nodes by 40% and costs by 30%.

IMEC is also viewed as a counter to China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) in the Eurasian region.