10th India-Italy JDC meeting held in Delhi to discuss ways to enhance defence cooperation

New Delhi, Mar 13 (PTI) Defence Secretary Giridhar Aramane and Italian Secretary General of Defence and National Armament Director Lt Gen Luciano Portolano co-chaired the 10th India-Italy Joint Defence Committee meeting here on Wednesday during which both sides discussed a wide range of defence industrial and military cooperation issues.

During the meeting, they also exchanged views on the Indo-Pacific and the security situations, according to a statement issued by the Indian defence ministry.

“Defence Secretary Giridhar Aramane and Italian Secretary General of Defence and National Armament Director Lt Gen Luciano Portolano co-chaired the 10th India-Italy Joint Defence Committee (JDC) meeting in New Delhi on March 13,” it said.

Both sides discussed a wide range of defence industrial and military cooperation issues, officials said.

The focus of the meeting was to “enhance defence industrial cooperation,” they said.

India and Italy signed an agreement on defence cooperation in October 2023 during the visit of Defence Minister Rajnath Singh to Italy.

“With the agreement providing the overarching framework to deepen the bilateral defence relationship, both sides discussed ways and means to bring the defence companies of both the countries together for joint projects, including for co-production in India,” it said.

Defence Secretary Aramane suggested the integration of Indian vendors in the global supply chains of Italian defence companies to bring value to both sides and improve the supply chain resilience, it said.