Pahalgam attack interrupted normalisation in Kashmir: Italian envoy backs India in fighting terror

The terror attack in Pahalgam last month, killing 26 people, interrupted “development and interests” of Jammu and Kashmir, said Italian Ambassador to India Antonio Bartoli on Tuesday in New Delhi. Expressing Italy’s solidarity with India, Bartoli condemned the devastating Pahalgam terror attack.

In an exclusive conversation with Firstpost’s Bhagyasree Sengupta, Ambassador Bartoli said Italy is against all forms of terrorism and recalled how the European nation itself has faced the horrors of terrorism.

“We are against any form of terrorism because we experienced in our scheme terrorism, the cruelty of terrorism, and so we actually support, first of all, we are close to the families and the Government of India for this attack,” the Italian envoy told Firstpost.

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Ambassador Bartoli mentioned that Italy is working closely with the Indian government and has proposed a common session to discuss how to fight terrorism. “We have proposed to have a common session with Italy on terrorism,” he said.

On April 22, terrorists infiltrated a tourist destination in Baisaran Valley in Pahalgam and killed 26 tourists, sending shockwaves across India. The attack led to a major diplomatic row between India and Pakistan after it was found that some of the terrorists involved in the attack were Pakistani nationals.

During the conversation with Firstpost, the Italian envoy noted how the latest attack has interrupted the development interests of both Kashmir and India. “This dynamic (attack) that is done to counter the interests of India in its development and the interests of Kashmir itself, which was experiencing normalisation in terms of elections, tourism and job opportunities, etc, has been interrupted,” the Italian ambassador told Firstpost. “We think that we all should avoid encountering terrorism, avoid triggering spirals that then can go out of control,” he furthered.

‘Concrete results on concrete focus’: Ambassador Bartoli on India-Italy ties

When asked about the evolution of the India-Italy relationship over the years, Ambassador Bartoli noted that both nations have a concrete focus on concrete results. “The India relationship is very good because we have a strategic partnership, and we are about concrete focus on concrete results. That’s why the two prime ministers met last November,” the Italian envoy told Firstpost.

Bartoli pointed out that the talks in November were the fifth direct meeting between Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the span of two years. “They signed a plan of action, so homework for the two governments with precise objectives and precise areas where to develop our collaboration,” he added.

When asked further about the key areas of collaboration, Ambassador Bartoli said: “The areas are trade and investments. We want to raise the trade and investment relationship in both directions. The other areas of collaboration are in mobility, in space and defence as a priority sector,” Bartoli told Firstpost. 

“We are also focusing on the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC), where Italy is one of the key terminals, like India. We are focusing on collaboration in science and technology. We just had a business in the Science and Technology forum to increase the relationship between our universal research and IT innovation,” he added.

The Italian envoy noted that the country is planning to create an innovation sector in India to “foster the dialogue between the innovation ecosystem”. “We are translating all these programs into concrete actions,” he concluded.

The conversation took place on the sidelines of the launch of the Global Access to Talent from India (GATI) Foundation in New Delhi. It is a non-profit Foundation dedicated to building structured, ethical, and circular pathways for global talent mobility.