Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has revisited her high-profile bilateral experiences in India through her newly released book, Giorgia’s Vision. Compiled from a series of comprehensive conversations with journalist Alessandro Sallusti, the publication reveals behind-the-scenes insights into how personal connections and public optics actively shape modern international diplomacy.
In the book, Meloni recounts the grand reception engineered for her across the Indian capital during her state visit in March 2023 to attend the eighth edition of the Raisina Dialogue. The scale of the public display prompted a lighthearted joke from Italy’s Deputy Prime Minister, Antonio Tajani. “With all these posters, if you ran for the New Delhi constituency, you’d get a million votes,” Tajani remarked, as quoted in the text.
Describing the striking visual welcome, Meloni notes that the layout exceeded all traditional expectations. “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’.” Meloni ultimately traveled to India twice in 2023, returning to New Delhi later that September for the high-level G20 Summit.
