Top News

Barcelona: In her new book, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni shared her anecdote from her 2023 visit to India. In her book, the Prime Minister recalled how, during her visit, the roads in New Delhi had her posters welcoming her arrival and thanking her for the visit.

The book ‘Giorgia’s Vision’ is based on PM Meloni’s  conversations with journalist Alessandro Sallusti. In the book , she is quoted as saying that the display prompted Italy‘s Deputy Prime Minister Antonio Tajani, jokingly said that if she contested from India, she would secure “ a million votes.”

“When I arrived, there was a poster with my face and the word ‘Welcome’ every few feet along the road. When I left, the posters showed the same image, but now read ‘Thank you for visiting’. My colleague Antonio Tajani, who was with me, joked: ‘With all these posters, if you ran for the New Delhi constituency, you’d get a million votes’,” says the Italian PM, recalling here March 2023 visit,” the book read

PM Meloni visited India twice that year. Her first visit was for the 8th edition of ‘Raisina Dialogue’ in March and then for the G20 Summit in September. “A few witty words, a personal story, a common interest — it can make all the difference,” she observed.

The Italian PM shares a good rapport with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and has been dubbed as part of “Melodi” by social media users, as written in the chapter ‘Head Held High Among the World Greats’ . It added tat successful diplomacy needed moving beyond rigid formalities and find “your personal key” to connect with others.

Explaining through a seres of anacdotes, she spoke of how meaningful diplomatic relationships can start with small moments, like cigarette by the sea, a conversation about Middle-earth from “the Lord of the Rings”, a bouquet of roses, among others.She also spoke on how she built some “solid diplomatic relationships” during informal cigarette breaks.

In the book, Meloni discussed her interactions and personal friendships with several worldleaders. Among them is Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama, whom she described as one of the most engaging individuals she has met.