NEW DELHI, Oct. 29 (Xinhua) -- Italian Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni will arrive in India Monday on a state visit, the Indian External Affairs Ministry has said.
This will be the first visit by an Italian prime minister to the country in more than a decade. The last visit of an Italian premier to India was in February 2007.
The Italian prime minister will be accompanied by his wife and a 15-member delegation of Italian CEOs, according to the ministry.
Gentiloni is slated to hold talks with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and top figures in his government Monday.
"The visit at the invitation of Modi is aimed at strengthening the bilateral political and economic relations between the two countries," the ministry said in a statement.
Italy is India's 5th largest trading partner in the European Union with a bilateral trade at 8.79 billion U.S. dollars in 2016-17.
Italy is also the 13th largest investor in India. And there are over 600 Italian companies in India in various sectors such as fashion, textiles, automotives and energy.
