A lighthearted exchange between Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni captured attention Wednesday when Modi presented Meloni with a packet of Melody toffees during his visit to Rome. Meloni posted a short video of the moment on X with the caption ‘Thank you for the gift,’ which quickly sparked online reaction and revived the playful ‘Melodi’ nickname for the leaders’ friendship.
Modi, in Italy for the final leg of a five-nation tour, was hosted for dinner by Meloni on Tuesday. The two leaders later visited the Colosseum and shared photos and posts about their time together. In the video clip, Meloni responds to the toffee with the line, ‘This is a very very nice toffee.’
The meeting comes as India and Italy work to advance a Joint Action Plan for 2025–2029 covering defence, trade, energy and other areas. Bilateral trade between the two countries stands at about 16 billion USD. Modi said in a post after landing in Rome that he had the opportunity to meet Meloni over dinner, exchange views on a wide range of subjects and looked forward to further talks on strengthening India–Italy ties.
The warm exchange revived public attention to the pair’s friendly rapport, which first drew notice at COP28 in 2023 when Meloni shared a selfie with Modi captioned ‘Good friends at COP28. #Melodi.’ Subsequent moments between the two at summits such as the G20 in India (2023) and the G7 in Canada (2025) also went viral, and social media users quickly turned Thursday’s toffee moment into new memes and commentary.
Officials said the leaders are scheduled for bilateral talks to deepen cooperation across the sectors outlined in the joint plan. For now, the Melody toffee gesture has become the latest, lighthearted chapter in a widely noted diplomatic rapport between the two heads of government.
