India and Italy on Thursday took a step forward in strengthening their defence partnership and exchanged a bilateral military cooperation plan (MCP) for 2026-27.

This happened at a meeting that Defence Minister Rajnath Singh had with his Italian counterpart Guido Crosetto in New Delhi.

According to the Ministry of Defence (MoD), the newly exchanged MCP outlines a roadmap for structured military interactions between the armed forces of both nations over the next year.

The meeting focused on enhancing military engagements and expanding defence industrial cooperation between the two countries. Both ministers reaffirmed that the India-Italy Strategic Partnership is rooted in shared values of peace, stability, freedom and mutual respect.

In a post on X, Singh said, “Happy to have welcomed my Italian counterpart Guido Crosetto and held extensive talks with him in Delhi today. We discussed a wide range of regional and global issues, including the current situation in West Asia.

“We also discussed the avenues to further develop mutually beneficial defence industrial cooperation under India’s Atmanirbhar Bharat programme and Italy’s defence cooperation initiative. A bilateral military cooperation plan (MCP) 2026-27 was also exchanged regarding military engagements between the armed forces of both countries,” he added.

Earlier in the day, Crosetto paid tributes to fallen soldiers by laying a wreath at the National War Memorial. He was also accorded a ceremonial tri-service guard of honour at the Manekshaw Centre in Delhi Cantt.

Meanwhile, the Indian Coast Guard –- a force under the MoD — hosted an Italian delegation, including senior representatives from Italian shipbuilder Fincantieri, at Coast Guard Headquarters.

Discussions focused on collaboration with Indian shipyards for future projects, highlighting advanced design features such as resilient hulls and hybrid/electric propulsion. The dialogue also explored modular ship design to enable versatile, multi-role platforms with rapid operational adaptability.

Both sides deliberated on indigenous development and co-development of niche technologies, including dynamic positioning systems, AI-enabled decision support, counter-unmanned aerial systems (C-UAS)/anti-drone defence and next-generation green propulsion, in alignment with the vision of Atmanirbhar Bharat.