Swaraj holds talks with Italian counterpart in Rome

Rome, Sep 4 (PTI) External Affairs Minister Sushma Swarajtoday met her Italian counterpart Paolo Gentiloni anddiscussed cooperation in key areas of trade and counter-terrorism, the first high-level contact between the twocountries after the UN court’s verdict on the Italian marinesissue. In the meeting, Swaraj, who is leading a 12-memberdelegation that attended the canonisation ceremony of MotherTeresa today, and Gentiloni expressed their satisfaction onthe first high-level bilateral meeting after a "considerableperiod", according to the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA). "They reviewed the state of bilateral relations anddiscussed the future roadmap of cooperation in trade andinvestment, science and technology, counter terrorism,cultural exchange and other areas of mutual interest," the MEAsaid. They also agreed to expand cooperation between Italy andIndia in multilateral fora, it said. The relationship between India and Italy soured afterIndia detained Italian marines — Salvatore Girone andMassimiliano Latorre — on charges of murdering two Indianfishermen off Kerala coast in 2012. Unsatisfied with Indian judicial process, Italy moved theUN Tribunal, which in May this year allowed Girone to returnpending the trial. Latorre is already in Italy on healthgrounds. During the meeting today, Swaraj also conveyed her deepcondolences for the recent earthquake in central Italy thatcaused a lot of destruction and claimed many innocent lives.PTI PYK ASKASK