India, Italy Express Concern On Ongoing Humanitarian Crisis In Ukraine

On Ukraine, India and Italy expressed their concern on the ongoing humanitarian crisis and called for an immediate cessation of hostilities.

India and Italy on Friday called for an immediate cessation of hostilities in Ukraine and expressed concerns over the ongoing "humanitarian crisis" in that country even as they vowed to work closely in countering common challenges of terrorism, violent extremism and cybercrime.

The Ukraine crisis, along with the situation in Afghanistan, developments in the Indo-Pacific and pressing global challenges, figured prominently in the talks between External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and his visiting Italian counterpart Luigi Di Maio on Friday.

In the discussions, the two foreign ministers agreed to explore partnerships in areas such as gas transportation, green hydrogen, biofuels and energy storage.

Both sides noted that there was potential for a closer India-Italy industrial collaboration in the defence sector, and vowed to work closely in countering common challenges of terrorism, violent extremism and cybercrime.