India and Italy can expand cooperation in Africa through AI Hub and development initiatives

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New Delhi : India and Italy can expand trilateral cooperation in Africa through an AI Hub for Sustainable Development as well as initiatives in precision agriculture, water management, health and education, Antonio Bartoli, Ambassador of Italy to India, told ANI today.

“We should collaborate also more and more together in Africa, because India is a flag bearer of the Global South. We have an ambitious programme spanning from artificial intelligence to precision agriculture, water management, health, education, so we can do more and more things together,” Bartoli told ANI in an exclusive interview on the sidelines of the 16th Edition of Mindmine Summit 2026.

Highlighting the growing scope of collaboration between the two countries beyond bilateral ties, Bartoli said India and Italy have already taken steps towards working together in Africa and identified Artificial Intelligence (AI) as a key area for joint engagement.

On Artificial Intelligence (AI), Bartoli said Italy has established an AI Hub for Sustainable Development for Africa and has partnered with India and Kenya to support development initiatives on the continent.
“One example is exactly in artificial intelligence, because we created an AI hub for sustainable development for Africa. And so we signed a trilateral agreement between India, Kenya and Italy, so that Italian supercomputers can provide an opportunity for more and more use cases in order to benefit Africa,” he said.

Bartoli’s remarks came as he underlined the growing strategic convergence between India and Italy at a time of global uncertainty. He said the two countries are becoming increasingly important partners across a range of sectors and share common values and interests.

“We discussed about uncertain times and confident choices. I think it’s a very appropriate title because there is no doubt that we navigate uncertain times. But it’s also true that we have to be confident in the future and in partnerships between, for example, Europe and India and Italy and India, a partnership that is becoming stronger and stronger,” he said.

According to the envoy, recent high-level engagements have helped deepen cooperation across science and technology, mobility, defence and critical minerals.”We had the pleasure to receive the Prime Minister recently and to deepen and strengthen the collaboration in many sectors, spanning from science and technology to mobility, from defence to critical minerals,” he said.

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Bartoli said India and Italy are natural partners as both are democracies that support connectivity, resilient supply chains and a rules-based international order.”So I think that this is a future to partner more and more together because to create more resilient and stronger value chains and to cherish and safeguard the values that put us together, democracy and rule of law and a rule-based order,” he said.

The Ambassador also highlighted the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC) as an important area of convergence between the two countries.”I think there are many, many convergences of interests. We are two democracies, we are two countries, so we are interested in connectivity. IMEC is a great vision,” he said.

Beyond connectivity, Bartoli said there is significant potential for collaboration in manufacturing, machinery, auto components, food and energy transition. He noted that Italy, as one of Europe’s major industrial powers, can contribute to India’s manufacturing ambitions.

The envoy further identified AI as an important pillar of future cooperation, both in advancing technology and ensuring that its development remains human-centric.”Including artificial intelligence, both in terms of making headway together in technology, but also in ensuring that artificial intelligence remains something at the service of the people and not vice versa. These tools shouldn’t become a master,” he said.

He also welcomed India’s growing investments in digital infrastructure, including data centres, and said greater collaboration in building digital infrastructure would benefit both India and Europe.

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(ANI)

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