NEW DELHI: Sikhs travelling to Italy will no longer have to remove their turbans at the airport during security screening. This was officially announced by the Italian interior ministry after bilateral discussions between foreign minister SM Krishna and his Italian counterpart, Franco Frattini, in Rome on Friday.

The turban will be accepted as a symbol of religion when Sikhs are photographed for identification cards at local police stations in Italy. Official sources said this was a "big achievement" for Indian diplomacy.

Krishna, who is in Rome to participate in the 150-year celebrations of Italian unification, made a strong case for Sikhs to be treated more respectfully. He told Frattini that even the European Union accepts Sikh turbans as a religious symbol, so Italy should not discriminate against them either. He pointed out better practices in the UK which had started a more equitable system -- let a man touch his own turban and run it through an explosives check.