Islamabad: Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif on Monday received Ambassador of the Italian Republic to Pakistan, H.E. Mr. Ugo Ciarlatani, who paid a courtesy call on him at the Prime Minister House.

Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Senator Mohammad Ishaq Dar, Adviser to the Prime Minister Dr. Syed Tauqir Shah, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister Syed Tariq Fatemi and Foreign Secretary Ambassador Amna Baloch were also present during the meeting.

Welcoming the newly arrived Italian Ambassador, the Prime Minister said that Pakistan and Italy enjoyed excellent bilateral relations.

The Prime Minister conveyed his warm greetings to Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and fondly recalled his interactions with the Italian leader.

He also expressed pleasure over Prime Minister Meloni's completion of four uninterrupted years in office, noting her long tenure as Italian Prime Minister.

Ambassador Ugo Ciarlatani thanked the Prime Minister for receiving him and said he would make every effort during his tenure to further promote and strengthen Pakistan-Italy relations.

The Italian Ambassador said he looked forward to working closely with the Government of Pakistan across all areas of mutual interest.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif assured the Italian Ambassador of Pakistan's full cooperation in further strengthening bilateral relations.

He particularly highlighted opportunities for enhanced cooperation between Pakistan and Italy in agriculture, information technology, artificial intelligence, industry, textiles and people-to-people contacts.

Both sides expressed the desire to continue working closely for strengthening bilateral cooperation and expanding mutually beneficial engagement in diverse sectors.