ISLAMABAD: Pakistan and Italy have signed an agreement to abolish visa requirements for holders of diplomatic passports.

Pakistan’s Ambassador to Italy Ali Javed and Italian Foreign Affairs Secretary General Ambassador Riccardo Guariglia signed the accord at a ceremony hosted at the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Rome, according to an official handout.

Ahead of the signing, the two diplomats held one-on-one talks and reviewed the full spectrum of bilateral engagement and cooperation at multilateral platforms including the United Nations and European Union.

Both sides expressed satisfaction with the “substance, intensity and soaring trajectory” of their strategic cooperation, the statement said.

The agreement, they said, would facilitate smooth exchanges of diplomatic delegations and strengthen bilateral engagement. Officials termed the accord a reflection of mutual trust and friendship and an “excellent addition” to existing mechanisms for cooperation, it added.

Pakistan and Italy already have 15 government-to-government agreements in areas ranging from tourism and culture to science and technology, sports, higher defence studies and anti-narcotics cooperation. Other 21 memorandum of understanding (MoUs) exist between universities and think tanks, the statement said.

It added that key existing frameworks included the Defence Cooperation accord signed in 2009, the Strategic Engagement Plan established by foreign ministers in 2013, and the Joint Economic Commission set up in 2005. Earlier treaties include the Investment Protection Treaty of 1997, the Dual Citizenship Agreement of 1983 and the Extradition Treaty of 1972.

On May 7, 2025, the two countries also concluded an MoU on ‘Labour Mobility and Migration’ in Islamabad — Pakistan’s first labour accord with a European state. It qualifies Pakistani workers for 10,500 Pakistan-specific jobs in Italy, it said.

Meanwhile, Ambassador Javed reiterated an invitation to the secretary general, on behalf of the foreign secretary, to visit Pakistan for the 7th Round of Bilateral Political Consultations.

He conveyed readiness to convene the talks in the last quarter of 2026, along with keenness to inaugurate the newly built Italian Embassy in Islamabad — Italy’s largest diplomatic mission overseas — underscoring the salience of ties with Pakistan, it added.