Rome : External Affairs Minister (EAM) S. Jaishankar held discussions with the UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy in Rome on Monday, ahead of the Outreach session of the G7 Foreign Ministers' Meeting being hosted by Italy where India has been invited as a guest country.  "Appreciate the steady momentum in India UK Comprehensive Strategic Partnership. Discussed deepening cooperation in technology, green energy, trade, mobility, as well as ongoing developments in Indo-Pacific and West Asia," the EAM posted on X after the meeting.

The meeting took place just a few days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi and British PM Keir Starmer met on the sidelines of the G-20 Summit in Rio de Janeiro last week and had reaffirmed their commitment to strengthen the India-UK Comprehensive Strategic Partnership.

As he announced the establishment of two new Consulates General of India in the United Kingdom in Belfast and Manchester, PM Modi had labeled the meeting with Starmer as an "extremely productive" one. "For India, the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership with the UK is of immense priority. In the coming years, we are eager to work closely in areas such as technology, green energy, security, innovation and technology. We also want to add strength to trade as well as cultural linkages," said Prime Minister Modi after the first meeting between the two leaders.

EAM Jaishankar, who inaugurated the new Chancery of the Embassy of India in Rome on Sunday, is on a three-day visit to attend the Outreach session of the G7 Foreign Ministers’ Meeting. He is also scheduled to participate in the 10th edition of the MED Mediterranean Dialogue in Rome, being organised by Institute for International Political Studies (ISPI) in collaboration with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of Italy.

The conference will be inaugurated on Monday with a speech by Italian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Antonio Tajani.

Besides EAM Jaishankar, the event will also be attended by high-level representatives from all over the enlarged Mediterranean region, as well as representatives of numerous relevant international organisations, including Ahmed Aboul Gheit, Secretary General, Arab League; Taher al-Baour, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Libya; Abdallah Bou Habib, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates, Lebanon; Mohamed Salem Ould Marzouk, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mauritania; Shaya Mohsin Zindani, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates, Yemen and Geir O. Pedersen, Special Envoy of the UN Secretary-General for Syria.

In Fiuggi, which is hosting the G7 Foreign Ministers’ Meeting, EAM Jaishankar is expected to hold discussions on major regional issues and global topics, including the stability of the Indo-Pacific -- a priority region for political balances and world trade.

He is also expected to meet his counterparts from Italy and other participating nations in the G7 related engagements and hold bilateral discussions during the visit. The G7 Foreign Ministers’ Meeting in Fiuggi will be the second to be hosted in Italy in 2024, after the one held in Capri from April 17 to 19.

Under the Italian Presidency, the G7 Foreign Ministers have also met, in recent months, on the sidelines of major international events in Munich, Washington and New York.

"As in Capri, the agenda of the Fiuggi Ministerial Meeting will focus on the main issues at the heart of the international debate, starting with the situation in the Middle East following Hamas’s brutal terrorist attack against Israel on 7 October 2023. Among the topics under discussion will be the serious humanitarian crisis in Gaza, the situation in Lebanon, the one in the Red Sea, and the need to promote a credible political horizon for the region that guarantees peace and security, from the perspective of 'two Peoples, two States'," stated the Italian G7 Presidency, earlier this week.

/IANS