India, March 21 -- India and Italy on Friday held the 9th round of Foreign Office Consultations in New Delhi, reviewing their expanding strategic partnership and pushing for faster implementation of key agreements across trade, defence, technology and security cooperation.

The Indian delegation was led by Sibi George, Secretary (West) in the Ministry of External Affairs, while the Italian side was headed by Nicoletta Bombardiere, Director General for Globalisation and Global Issues at Italy's Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The talks took place against the backdrop of sustained high-level political engagement between the two countries, including recent interactions between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Mel...