Rome: External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar held a meeting with Italian Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani on Thursday and signed the Mobility and Migration Partnership Agreement and the Cultural Exchange Program.

The two leaders held discussions on deepening the strategic partnership between the two countries as well as on the issues of the West Asia situation, the Ukraine conflict and the Indo-Pacific.

"A comprehensive and productive meeting this evening with DPM and FM @Antonio_Tajani. Conversed about deepening our strategic partnership. Agreed that potential in agro-tech, innovation, space, defence and the digital domain should be explored," Jaishankar posted on X (formerly Twitter).

He added, "Spoke about the West Asia situation, Ukraine conflict and the Indo-Pacific landscape in detail. Appreciated Italy's support for our initiatives and also for the G20 Presidency. Signed the Mobility and Migration Partnership Agreement and the Cultural Exchange Program at the end of our talks".

Earlier in the day, EAM Jaishankar met Italian Defence Minister Guido Crosetto and discussed strengthening the India-Italy defence partnership on Thursday.

On Wednesday, Jaishankar also interacted with the Italian senate members as he began his official visit to Italy.

Jaishankar also addressed the Joint Session of the Senate's External Affairs and Defence Commission.

During this, he characterized the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic followed by conflict in Ukraine on the global economy as "very traumatic" and predicted very "difficult and turbulent" times ahead.

While referring to the escalation of the Israel-Hamas war, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said that while terrorism is "unacceptable", there also needs to be a solution for the issue of Palestine.

Prior to this, Jaishankar was in Portugal for two days, from October 31 to November 1.

India and Italy enjoy friendly and cordial relations and multifaceted bilateral cooperation. The relationship was elevated to 'Strategic Partnership' during the state visit of the Prime Minister of Italy in March this year.

Italy is among India's top 5 trading partners in the EU. The balance of trade has been in India's favour since the early eighties. The Indian community in Italy is the second largest community of Indians in Europe after the UK.