The Union Cabinet recently cleared the ex-post facto consent for India to officially sign and ratify Migration and Mobility Agreement (MMA) with Italy. The Agreement between India and Italy was signed on November 2 by the Union Minister for External Affairs (EAM) S. Jaishankar along with the Italian Foreign Minister (FM) Antonio Tajani.
The Agreement will allow Indian students to temporarily stay in Italy for a period of one year after finishing their studies in order to gain professional experience.
The main aim of this Agreement is to strengthen the People-to-People contacts and promote the mobility of students, qualified employees, business leaders, and young talent between India and Italy.
This will in particular strengthen the current Italian visa regime which includes post-study, internships and professional training which gives India a clear edge under the existing labour mobility pathways of the Flows decree.
If an Indian student wishes to acquire initial professional experience in Italy after completing his/her academic or professional training, the Agreement will provide him/her with a temporary residence permit in Italy for a maximum period of 12 months.
Italy, on the other hand, has laid down specific provisions for professional trainings, extra-curricular trainings and curricular trainings, which will provide an opportunity for the Indian student and trainee to comply with Italian skills and training requirements.
In addition, according to reports, the agreement will allocate quotas of 5,000, 6,000 and 7,000 for Indian non-seasonal workers and 3,000, 4,000 and 5,000 for seasonal workers for 2023, 2024 and 2024. Regulation of current flows. This provision further opens up opportunities for Indian workers to augment the Italian workforce and gain valuable international experience.
The Agreement goes beyond student mobility and worker mobility and formalises joint efforts in promoting mobility pathways through Youth Mobility Agreements. The Agreement also aims to facilitate the recruitment of Indian Qualified Professionals (IQPs) in the healthcare sector and medical services. The Declaration also outlines and formalises the cooperation between the Parties to combat illegal migration.
The Agreement also establishes a Joint Working Group (JWG) which will hold regular meetings in both virtual and in-person formats. The JWG will be responsible for monitoring and overseeing the implementation of the Agreement, thus adding an additional layer of accountability to this historic India-Italy initiative.
