"A historic moment", an "unprecedented" intensity in bilateral relations: for the Ambassador of Italy to India, Antonio Bartoli, the first time of the Vespucci ship in the port of Mumbai coincides with a turning point in Italian-Indian relations that has matured, after a difficult period, during the five meetings that Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi have had over the last two years. The last one took place on 18 November, when a joint strategic plan opening new horizons was signed on the sidelines of the G20 in Rio.
"We are living a historic moment," Bartoli told ANSA on the occasion of a visit to the Navy's training ship moored in the port of India's financial capital, now accessible to the local public along with the Villaggio Italia, the travelling expo of national excellence. "For the Vespucci it is the first time here. But it is also a particularly important moment in relations between the two countries: the level of bilateral relations has reached an unprecedented intensity. A page has truly been turned' with respect to the problems of the past.
The priorities and objectives set out in the agreement signed in Rio, the ambassador went on to say, "must now be translated into concrete projects and results. Political dialogue, economy, security, defence, space, tourism, energy transition, culture are areas with enormous prospects'.
India as an alternative to China? 'Without falling into easy shortcuts or simplistic recipes,' Bartoli noted, 'it is a fact that this is the fastest growing economy among the important countries. A growth that on average is double that of the world. Moreover, this is a country with a population that has an average age of 28 and that until 2078 will see the under-25s outnumber the over-65s. It means that by 2050, there will be 1.6 billion Indians while the Chinese will have aged to 1.2 billion. It is a demographic dividend,' the ambassador continued, 'which represents a tremendous market opportunity. But also a challenge. India will become the world's third largest economy by 2027 and the third largest stock exchange by 2030; this will certainly not be enough to solve the problem of inequality. 'It will be necessary to develop the manufacturing sector, the only one,' Bertoli noted, 'that can absorb this population growth with its labour intensity. Something that hi-tech and services, today the leading sectors of the Indian economy, cannot do'.
The two governments, Italy's diplomatic representative in Delhi then recalled, also signed an agreement on mobility 'of mutual interest, I would say win-win. On the one hand, India needs to develop an industry that absorbs more and more labour but also places it abroad. We are interested in the more specialised one. And the agreement says that we can bring qualified personnel to Italy, provided that they are trained in India, to meet the shortage of professional figures in our labour market. The first project we are trying to set up is on nurses. We have a shortage of 65,000 while India has one of the best professional levels'. Of course issues such as the recognition of qualifications and the language barrier will have to be resolved. But this is the way forward so as not to let the smugglers decide who should arrive in Italy,' Bartoli concluded.
In the meantime, while waiting for the official opening ceremony to take place tomorrow, the gates of the Villaggio Italia and the Vespucci's gangways have opened to the Indian public, which has flocked in large numbers to admire the 'most beautiful sailing ship in the world' and the leading products of Italian design and technology. A flow that was accompanied by music played by the Aeronautica Militare band in a scenography that saw the majesty of Vespucci act as a backdrop enclosing the perimeter of the Village.
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