Climate Walker Jaydip Lakhankiya has arrived in mainland Italy and is now set to continue the rest of his transcontinental trek to New Delhi, India solely on foot.

The Climate Walker decided in late 2025 to raise awareness for climate change by setting himself up for a monumental challenge: walking from Malta to India, over approximately 12,000 kilometres.

He began this estimated year-and-a-half journey on 21 February 2026 from Valletta by catching a ferry to Sicily. In the past 17 days, he has walked the length of Sicily, from Pozzallo to Messina, and has caught his second and final ferry for his trip to cross over to mainland Italy.

He will now walk the length of Italy, passing through Vatican City and San Marino in the process, before reaching Slovenia and heading eastwards.

After reaching Slovenia, the Climate Walker is scheduled to walk through Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Kosovo, Montenegro, Albania, North Macedonia, Bulgaria, Greece, Turkey, Georgia, Armenia, Iran, and Pakistan before crossing the border into his homeland and heading towards New Delhi.

Climate Walker Lakhankiya is collecting rubbish every day as he slowly makes his way back to his home country in south Asia. Before leaving Malta, he organised a five-day nationwide walk across Malta to spend his final days on the Maltese islands going around every locality in Malta clean up any litter he encounters. He even organised a clean-up in his last day in Sicily, before crossing over to mainland Europe and arriving at the Italian Boot on Monday, 9 March.

Before heading off on this journey, Lakhankiya told this newsroom that he estimates to arrive in New Delhi, India in summer 2027.

He has no intention to rush through this journey; he is walking to the other side of the world to make a statement that we can all do our part to safeguard the natural environment, just as he is ensuring to emit zero emissions to get to New Delhi.

While Lakhankiya has garnered significant support to make this journey safely, Times of Malta reported that he has also received a barrage of racist and hateful remarks. He had told the local newsroom that these remarks were demoralising and hurtful, and asked those who aren't backing him to have the decency to not bring him down.

The Malta Independent has contacted the Climate Walker to ask if is going to amend his walk back to India in any way amidst the recent geopolitical developments in the Persian Gulf. Lakhankiya is planning to pass to Iran before reaching Pakistan and then India. His crossing through Iran is estimated to be his longest journey through any single country over the next year and a half - approximately 2,330km over an estimated 117 days.