Ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s likely visit to Italy late next month, Italian Defence Minister Guido Crosetto, one of the senior ministers in PM Giorgia Meloni’s government, is scheduled to visit India Tuesday and hold bilateral talks over the next two days. In his four decades in Italian politics, Crosetto, who co-founded the Fratelli d’Italia (Brothers of Italy) party with Meloni, in an exclusive interview over email with Shubhajit Roy, talked about his agenda for his meeting with Defence Minister Rajnath Singh , the trajectory of the India-Italy bilateral ties after a difficult phase, maritime cooperation with India, the challenges emerging from the closure of Strait of Hormuz, and Italy’s view of China’s approach in the Indo-Pacific. Edited excerpts: From an undersecretary in the Defence ministry in (Silvio) Berlusconi government to co-founder of Brothers of Italy, along with PM Giorgia Meloni, you have been one of the top leaders in the party and the Defence Minister.

How do you see your journey and where does India fit in Italy’s worldview as you plan to meet Defence Minister Rajnath Singh? My institutional and political progress — until I and Prime Minister Meloni co-founded Fratelli d’Italia — was guided by the will to serve the country, based on a sense of responsibility and strategic vision. In an increasingly complex and competitive global context, security, credibility and industrial capacity are the essential pillars that we must reinforce by building solid alliances and cooperation.