Bari (Italy)/IBNS: Prime Minister Narendra Modi Friday held bilateral talks with his Italian counterpart Giorgia Meloni with whom he had a "good meeting" to cement ties between two countries.

PM Modi also thanked her for inviting him to the G7 Summit. Earlier he was welcomed by PM Meloni in Italy.

India has been invited to the G7 Summit as an Outreach country.

The bilateral talks concentrated on India-Italy relations in areas like commerce, energy, defence, telecom and more.

"Our nations will work together in futuristic areas like biofuels, food processing and critical minerals," PM Modi posted in an X post.

In an address at an Outreach session of the G7 summit in Italy's Apulia region, Prime Minister Modi said the countries of the Global South are bearing the brunt of uncertainties and tensions around the world.

"We have to collectively ensure that the benefits of technology reach all sections of society, to realize the potential of every person in the society, to help in removing social inequalities, and expand human powers instead of limiting them. This should not only be our desire, but our responsibility. We have to convert monopoly in technology into mass usage," he said.

"We have to make technology creative, not destructive. Only then will we be able to lay the foundation of an inclusive society. India is striving for a better future through its human-centric approach. India is among the first few countries to formulate a National Strategy on Artificial Intelligence," the Indian PM said.

PM Modi also met Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Brazil President Lula da Silva and UAE President Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan.

He also held meetings with US President Joe Biden, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, and French President Emanuel Macron on the sidelines of the G7 summit.