Mumbai, May 21 : Veteran actor Kabir Bedi has showcased his happiness with the growing bond between India and Italy. He went on to say that he has worked for this since the days of his Italian TV series â??Sandokanâ??.

Kabir took to his stories section on Instagram, where he shared a picture of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni. In the image, the two iconic leaders are seen shaking hands.

The veteran star wrote in the caption: â??It gives me great joy to see India and Italy growing closer by the day It's what I've worked for since the days of SANDOKAN.â??

Sandokan is a 1976 Italian television series directed by Sergio Sollima, based upon the novels of Emilio Salgari, featuring the pirate hero Sandokan. It was followed in 1977 by a feature-length spin-off film, and in 1996 by a sequel series named The Return of Sandokan, with Kabir Bedi reprising his role as Sandokan in both.

On May 20, Modi revived the widely popular â??#Melodiâ?? moment by gifting a packet of â??Melodyâ??, a chewy toffee, to Meloni.

A video of the informal exchange by the iconic leaders was shared by the Italian PM on Instagram, where she spoke about the gesture and the gift received from the Indian Prime Minister.

Sharing the video of the moment, Meloni said, â??Prime Minister Modi brought us a gift -- a very, very good toffee -- Melody,â?? as both leaders were seen sharing a laugh during the interaction.

She further added in her caption, â??Thank you for the gift.â??

The â??Melodiâ?? phenomenon is a portmanteau combining the names of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Giorgia Meloni. It has frequently been used by social media users to highlight their light-hearted interactions at global platforms, often turning into viral moments that generate memes, discussions and widespread online engagement, while also symbolising a perceived strengthening of India-Italy relations.

The viral 'Melodi' trend originally gained momentum after Meloni posted a selfie on X during the COP28 summit in Dubai, where she captioned it, â??Good friends at COP28, #Melodiâ??. Till then, Melodi was just a meme hashtag used by Internet users.

/IANS