Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday held the first in-person meeting with his Italian counterpart Mario Draghi on the sidelines of the G20 Summit here during which the two leaders had extensive talks on diversifying the bilateral ties and to work together towards a more environment-friendly planet.

Prime Minister Modi, who arrived here earlier in the day at the invitation of his Italian counterpart, was received by Draghi upon his arrival at Palazzo Chigi, the seat of the Council of Ministers and the official residence of the Prime Minister of Italy, for the meeting.

"Glad to have met PM Mario Draghi in Rome. We talked about ways to strengthen the friendship between India and Italy. There is great potential to further scale up economic linkages, cultural cooperation and for us to work together towards a more environment friendly planet," Prime Minister Modi tweeted after the meeting.

Earlier, the Prime Minister's Office tweeted that the two leaders held extensive talks on diversifying India-Italy ties.

Modi was also accorded a guard of honour.

Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla told reporters at a briefing that the two leaders discussed the challenges posed by climate change and the COP26 Climate Summit.

They also discussed the situation in Afghanistan after the Taliban seized power in Kabul as well as the developments in the Indo-Pacific region.

"Synergising the India-Italy Partnership! PM @narendramodi was received by the Italian PM Mario Draghi, as he arrived at Palazzo Chigi for their first in-person meeting. Both leaders inspected the guard of honour before proceeding for delegation level talks,” Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Arindam Bagchi tweeted.

"PM @narendramodi & PM Mario Draghi reviewed the 2020-2025 Action Plan of India-Italy bilateral partnership, and reiterated the commitment to further expanding trade and investment linkages," he said.

They also "resolved to cooperate for accelerating clean energy transition to fight climate change," Bagchi added.

Italy is among India's top five trading partners in the EU. India ranks 19th as country of origin of Italian imports, accounting for 1.2 per cent of Italian imports. Italy ranked 18th in FDI inflows in India during April 2000 to December 2020 with FDI inflow of USD 3.02 billion during this period.

In his departure statement on Thursday, Modi said he will be visiting Rome and the Vatican City from October 29-31.

"During my visit to Italy, I will also visit the Vatican City, to call on His Holiness Pope Francis and meet Secretary of State, His Eminence Cardinal Pietro Parolin," Modi said.

From Rome, Modi will travel to Glasgow, the UK, at the invitation of British Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

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