Senior officials of India and Italy on Friday held the 2nd bilateral Consular Dialogue in New Delhi and discussed ways of enhancing cooperation on various issues such as quicker visa processing, mobility of students and professionals, safe and legal migration, protection of vulnerable women and children and enabling smooth travel of their respective nationals.
The talks between officials of two nations reinforced the strong people-to-people ties and cooperation that India and Italy share across consular issues of mutual trust, the Indian Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said in a statement.
For the meeting, the Indian delegation was led by Muktesh Kumar Pardeshi, Secretary (CPV&OIA) in the Ministry of External Affairs and comprising of Joint Secretary CPV K.J. Srinivasa and other officials from various divisions of the Ministry of External Affairs, other ministries and agencies.
The Indian officials hosted the Italian delegation led by Luigi Maria Vignali, Director General for Migratory Policies and Italians Abroad, Italian Minister of Foreign Affairs, accompanied by the Italian Ambassador to India Vincenzo de Luca.
In a press release, MEA stated, "Both sides discussed ways of enhancing cooperation on a wide range of issues such as quicker visa processing, mobility of students and professionals, safe and legal migration, MMPA, protection of vulnerable women and children and enabling smooth travel of their respective nationals."
"Both sides agreed to hold the next Consular Dialogue in Rome on mutually convenient date," it added.
On February 22, Former Italian Foreign Affairs Minister Giulio Terzi di Sant'Agata said that it was during the first official visit by Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi that helped make a lot of progress in the ties. While speaking to ANI, the Italian minister said that during Meloni's visit to India, a lot of important steps were taken to elevate the ties between the two nations.
(ANI)