By Zarak Khan | 2026-06-24

Italy is bolstering its Indo-Pacific presence after abandoning Beijing's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), reflecting a broader European effort to counter China's growing military influence and economic leverage.

The BRI is a Chinese-funded effort to fund foreign infrastructural projects that will facilitate the export of raw materials to China.

Driven by concerns over Beijing's control of critical supply chains and its expanding regional footprint, European powers, including Italy, France, Germany and the United Kingdom, are increasingly moving beyond trade-focused engagement toward more-robust military, diplomatic and security involvement in Asia.

For Rome and its allies, the Indo-Pacific has transformed from a commercial market into a critical security theater.

Italian outreach

Italy's recent diplomatic activities reflect the scale of the transformation.

In mid-June, Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi met Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni in Rome, where the two leaders agreed to advance the "joint development of a next-generation fighter jet" in partnership with the United Kingdom.

They pledged closer cooperation on economic security, including efforts to strengthen supply chains for rare earths and other critical minerals.

The leaders discussed the revamped Free and Open Indo-Pacific strategy announced by Japan in May. It seeks to strengthen maritime security, protect freedom of navigation and uphold a rules-based order amid concerns over China's growing regional assertiveness.

Earlier in June, Meloni hosted South Korean President Lee Jae Myung, with both leaders announcing an upgrade of Italian-South Korean ties to a special strategic partnership.

The two sides committed to greater cooperation in advanced technologies, industry, security and economic policy, while reaffirming support for Indo-Pacific stability and efforts to safeguard key maritime routes, including through the Strait of Hormuz.

The new partnership expands cooperation across technology, industry, security and economic policy while reaffirming support for Indo-Pacific stability and the protection of key maritime routes, including through the Strait of Hormuz.

India has emerged as another pillar of Italy's Indo-Pacific strategy.

During Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Rome in May, the two countries elevated relations to a special strategic partnership.

They adopted a Defense Industrial Roadmap promoting co-production and technological collaboration in helicopters, naval platforms and electronic warfare systems, a joint declaration said.

The agreement launched a Dialogue on Maritime Security to protect critical sea lanes from unilateral disruption, as well as cooperation on critical minerals and counterterrorism financing.

The Italian parliament recently approved a decree authorizing the transfer of the decommissioned aircraft carrier Giuseppe Garibaldi to Indonesia, according to a report by Il Sole 24 Ore.

Beyond reducing maintenance and disposal costs, the move is intended to strengthen Italy's industrial and military partnerships in the Indo-Pacific and create opportunities for future defense contracts involving Italian companies, the report said.

Strategic reversal

Italy's shift is significant. As the only G7 nation to join China's BRI in 2019, Rome withdrew in 2023 after expected economic benefits failed to materialize.

Italy's recent diplomatic and defense activities may appear unrelated in isolation, say analysts. However, viewed collectively, they reveal a broader strategic trend.

Taken together, these initiatives suggest "Italy's engagement with the Indo-Pacific is becoming increasingly structured, regular and strategic," according to Decode39, an Italian news and geopolitical website.

Italy's repositioning mirrors a wider European trend.

European response

France remains Europe's most established military actor in the Indo-Pacific and increasingly sees the region as a focal point of "rivalries between great powers, China's growing assertiveness, and strong trade tensions," according to its 2025 Indo-Pacific Strategy.

The strategy identifies three core priorities: defending international law, particularly the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea; safeguarding freedom of navigation and overflight; and upholding a rules-based order resistant to coercion, according to Benjamin Blandin, a non-resident research fellow at the Korean Institute of Maritime Strategy.

Paris views China's rejection of a 2016 South China Sea arbitration ruling "very pessimistically and therefore relies on military presence and diplomacy as key tools to avert escalation in the South China Sea disputes," Blandin wrote in an analysis published earlier this year.

That ruling threw out China's claim to more than 80% of the South China Sea.

The United Kingdom has significantly grown its presence through Royal Navy deployments, including carrier strike groups operating across the Indo-Pacific.

London has bolstered security cooperation with Australia and Japan while becoming a key pillar of the AUKUS security partnership.

Germany has increasingly embraced an Indo-Pacific strategy focused on maritime security, defense cooperation and reduction of economic dependence on China.

Earlier this year, German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul toured Singapore, New Zealand, Tonga, Australia and Brunei while seeking to strengthen Germany's engagement with ASEAN and Pacific island nations.

Berlin has dispatched naval vessels to the region and expanded strategic engagement with partners including India, Japan, Australia and South Korea.

A Dutch naval frigate recently visited Manila, highlighting the Netherlands' burgeoning security engagement in the Indo-Pacific and its growing interest in more defense cooperation with the Philippines amid rising tensions in the South China Sea.

Taken together, these initiatives underscore a fundamental shift in European thinking.

"For the European Union, the Indo-Pacific is no longer a peripheral theatre," Modern Diplomacy said in an analysis published in June.

Instead, it has become a critical economic and strategic arena where Europe seeks to "balance its interests and address China's growing regional impact," it added.