India and Italy upgrade their relationship to a “special strategic partnership,” with both sides agreeing on a broader agenda covering defence, critical minerals, mobility and trade cooperation, according to reports from Business Standard and NDTV. The agreements announced as part of the partnership span multiple areas of cooperation, reflecting an effort to deepen economic and strategic engagement. A central element of the discussions is an economic target: both countries aim to expand bilateral trade to 20 billion euros by 2029. The partnership framework is presented as a step to formalize cooperation beyond existing channels and to structure future collaboration across sectors that include defence and supply-chain-linked inputs such as critical minerals. Both outlets describe the move as an elevation of ties, with the partnership designed to guide implementation of the newly signed or outlined agreements. Overall, the announcements focus on expanding cooperation across strategic and economic domains while setting a specific timeline for increasing trade.