#Melodi again! Italy's Giorgia Meloni takes selfie with PM Narendra Modi at G7 Summit

PM Modi was attending the 2024 G7 Summit at the invitation of Italy's Meloni.

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni on Friday clicked a selfie with Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the G7 Summit held in Italy's Apulia.

Modi, who was on his first international visit after taking oath for the third time, reached Italy on Friday for a day-long visit. He was representing India as an outreach nation on the sidelines of the summit.

Upon reaching the summit venue, Modi was received by Meloni with a namaste.

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The selfie, which has now gone viral, shows the two leaders smiling at the camera as Meloni takes a picture.

PM Modi was attending the 2024 G7 Summit at the invitation of Italy's Meloni. He wrote in a post on X, “Thanked her for inviting India to be a part of the G7 Summit and for the wonderful arrangements.”

During the G7 Summit in Italy, Modi met with Meloni to discuss defence and security cooperation. He also expressed gratitude to the Italian government for acknowledging the Indian Army's role in the Italian Campaign during World War II. PM Modi announced plans to upgrade the Yashwant Ghadge Memorial in Montone, Italy.

“PM Modi and his Italian counterpart noted with satisfaction the regular higher political dialogue and reviewed the progress of the India-Italy Strategic Partnership."While expressing happiness at growing trade and economic collaboration, they called for expanding commercial ties in clean energy, manufacturing, Space, S&T, telecom, AI and critical minerals to build resilient supply chains. In this context, they welcomed the recent signing of a MoU on Industrial Property Rights (IPR) which provides a framework for cooperation on patents, designs and trademarks,” an MEA statement said.

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During their meeting, the two leaders celebrated the signing of a Letter of Intent for Cooperation in Energy Transition, aimed at enhancing collaboration in clean and green energy. This initiative is part of the 'Global Biofuels Alliance'. Meloni also congratulated PM Modi on his third consecutive term as Prime Minister. “They expressed happiness at the new Executive Programme of Cooperation for 2025-27 to promote joint research and development in Science and Technology,” said the MEA.

Modi said in the post, “We discussed ways to further cement India-Italy relations in areas like commerce, energy, defence, telecom and more. Our nations will work together in futuristic areas like biofuels, food processing and critical minerals.”

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India participated in the G7 summit as an 'Outreach Country'. The summit included members from the US, UK, Canada, Germany, Italy, Japan, and France, along with the European Union. This marked India's 11th and PM Modi's fifth consecutive appearance at the G7 Summit.

Modi and Meloni friendship

The friendship between the two leaders, who met at the G20 Summit in Delhi last year and then at COP28 in Dubai, has inspired many online memes.

In December, they took a selfie together at COP28 in Dubai. Meloni shared the picture on X, captioning it, “Good friends at COP28, #Melodi.”

Photographs of the two leaders together have been widely shared online, with the hashtag "Melodi" becoming a trending topic.

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