Fact Check: India did not demand Italy implement Financial sanctions on pakistan
India’s Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is leading the Indian delegation at the 58th Annual meeting of the Asian
India demands Italy
India’s Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is leading the Indian delegation at the 58th Annual meeting of the Asian Development Bank in Milan. Addressing the Governors’ Business Session, Sitharaman highlighted India’s ambition of becoming a developed nation by 2047 — Viksit Bharat — and called the ADB a “valued partner” in India’s development journey.
She also met Italian Finance Minister Giancarlo Giorgetti, with whom she discussed bolstering economic cooperation and implementing the Joint Strategic Action Plan 2025–2029. She invited Italian firms to invest in India’s growing sectors, such as renewable energy, agri-tech, digital innovation, and high-end manufacturing. Apart from this, there has been no discussion about the India-Pakistan ties or any matter related to Pahalgam.
Meanwhile, a few social media users are sharing a post claiming that India demanded Italy cut financing to Pakistan. Not only the news agency ANI but also several other mainstream media published articles on their websites claiming that this demand was made at a meeting between Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and her Italian Counterpart Giancarlo Giorgetti, on the sidelines of the 58th ADB annual meeting in the Italian city of Milan.
Some social media users also shared this claim on X.
Here is the archive link of the claim.
Fact Check:
The claim is False. India made no such demand about Italy implementing financial sanctions on Pakistan.
The X handle of the Ministry of Finance clarified that the news is incorrect and has no basis in fact.
PIB fact check also debunked this claim and stated that the claim made by several social media users is False. India has not made any such request.
According to the article published on Financial Express.com, the Union Ministry of Finance and the Asian Development Bank have both dismissed the media reports that Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman demanded cuts to funding for Pakistan amid rising tensions following the Pahalgam terror attack.
The Asian Development Bank also issued a statement denying the media reports. The ADB confirmed that the bilateral meeting between Sitharaman and ADB President Kanda did not include any discussions on Pakistan. “The Asian Development Bank (ADB) is aware of media reports claiming that issues related to Pakistan were discussed during the bilateral meeting. These media reports are incorrect. Issues related to Pakistan were not discussed during the bilateral meeting,” the statement read.
Hence, the claim that India has demanded that Italy implement financial sanctions on Pakistan is False. No such demand was made by the Finance Minister, who is presently in Milan, Italy.