Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni thanked Pakistan’s Shehbaz Sharif for his congratulations after she became Italy’s longest continuously serving postwar leader.
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has publicly thanked Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif for congratulating her on a record-setting stretch in office. The exchange followed Meloni becoming the longest continuously serving prime minister in Italy’s postwar history.
Meloni reached the milestone in early September, passing the record long associated with former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi. She took office in October 2022. Reports placed the figure at 1,413 consecutive days, a mark reached in a country that has had 68 governments since the Second World War.
Sharif sent his congratulations to Meloni on September 4. In his message, he said that through her leadership she had contributed significantly to Italy’s progress and its growing stature on the world stage. He added that he looked forward to continuing to work with her to further strengthen relations between Pakistan and Italy across multiple areas.
His office shared the message as part of a wider round of exchanges marking Meloni’s record. A number of heads of government sent notes to the Italian leader after she passed the postwar benchmark.
Meloni responded publicly a short time later. She thanked Sharif for his words and for wanting to underscore the value of the relationship between Italy and Pakistan. In her reply, she said that in recent years the two countries had strengthened collaboration across areas including economic exchanges and development cooperation, and she expressed hope for deeper mutual cooperation.
The exchange spotlighted a relationship with longstanding roots. Trade between Italy and Pakistan has historically included sectors such as textiles and leather, and recent contact between the two governments has focused on economics and migration.
Cooperation on labor has featured in that contact. Italy allocated a quota for 10,500 Pakistani workers over three years under a bilateral migration memorandum signed the previous year, according to statements by the Italian ambassador to Pakistan. Italy also introduced training programs to prepare prospective migrants before departure as part of what officials described as legal migration pathways.
Education has formed another strand of the relationship. Italy processed more than 3,200 visas for Pakistani students enrolled in undergraduate, postgraduate and doctoral programs during the 2025 to 2026 academic year. Both countries have also taken steps to improve consular services and simplify procedures for their citizens, and the two sides signed a visa-free travel accord for holders of diplomatic passports.
Meloni became Italy’s prime minister in October 2022, and her government has now surpassed the previous record for continuous time in office. Her tenure has coincided with a period of frequent contact between Rome and Islamabad on trade, migration and other matters.
The exchange came as the two countries continued to expand agreements on labor mobility, education and travel, subjects that have appeared repeatedly in official statements from both sides over the past year.
