by Enrico Tibuzzi Italy's Ambassador to India Antonio Bartoli said the arrival of the Italian Navy's training ship Amerigo Vespucci in Mumbai coincides with an "historic moment" amid an "unprecedented" intensity in bilateral ties in a turning point for relations between Italy and India matured, after a difficult period, over the course of five meetings that have taken place in the past two years between Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The last took place on November 18, when on the sidelines of the G20 meeting in Rio a joint strategic plan was signed, opening up new horizons.
"We are experiencing an historic moment", Bartoli told ANSA during a visit to the training vessel of the Italian Navy docked at the port of India's financial capital, which is today open to the local public, together with Villaggio Italia, the itinerant exhibition of national excellencies.
"It is the first time here for the Vespucci.
"But it is also a particularly important moment for relations between the two countries: the level of bilateral relations has registered an unprecedented intensity.
"A page has been turned" compared to the past, noted the ambassador.
The priorities and objectives outlined in the agreement signed in Rio, the ambassador also said, "must now translate into concrete projects and results.
"Political dialogue, economy, security, defence, space, tourism, energy transition, culture are sectors that present huge perspectives".
Asked whether India was an alternative to China, Bartoli observed that, "without easy shortcuts or simplistic recipes", it is "a fact that this is the economy growing the most among important countries", at about double the rate of the average worldwide growth.
"Moreover, this is a country with a population with an average age of 28 and that, until 2078, will see the under-25s outnumber the over-65s.
"This means that in 2050 there will be 1.6 billion Indians while the Chinese will have aged, decreasing to 1.2 billion", continued the ambassador, describing the demographic trend as an "incredible market opportunity".
However, he said, it is also a challenge.
India will become by 2027 the third world economy and by 2030 the third stock exchange; this will certainly not be enough to solve the problem of inequalities.
"It will be necessary to develop the manufacturing sector, the only one that can absorb this demographic growth with its intensity of labour, which is something that high-tech and services, today the driving sectors of the Indian economy, cannot do".
The two governments, recalled Italy's diplomatic representative to Delhi, have also signed an agreement on mobility "of mutual interest, I would say a win-win.
"On the one hand, India needs to develop an industry that absorbs an increasing number of workers as well as locate it abroad.
"We are interested in the most specialized.
"And the agreement says we can bring to Italy qualified personnel, provided they are trained in India, to deal with the lack of professional figures on our job market.
"The first project we are trying to set up concerns nurses.
"We need 65,000 while India has one of the best professional levels".
Issues including the recognition of degrees and the language barrier will need to be solved.
However, "the road to follow in order not to let smugglers decide who must reach Italy is this one", concluded Bartoli.
Meanwhile, ahead of the official opening ceremony on Friday, the gates of Villaggio Italia and the gangway of the Vespucci have opened to the Indian public which has arrived in large numbers to admire 'the world's most beautiful' sailing ship and leading Italian design and technological products.
The flow of visitors had as soundtrack the music played by the band of the Italian Navy with a set that included the majestic Vespucci and the Villaggio.
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