Tony Blair has held a meeting with the Italian far-right interior minister, Matteo Salvini, during which the pair are believed to have discussed controversial plans to extend a gas pipeline from Azerbaijan to southern Italy.

The Italian minister had previously said he was willing to hear the former British prime minister’s views on the Trans Adriatic Pipeline, an Azerbaijan-backed project on which Blair has worked as a consultant since 2014.

Ministers of the Five Star Movement, the other half of the coalition governing Italy with Salvini’s League party, have expressed strong opposition to the pipeline, mainly due to environmental concerns.

Salvini posted a picture of himself with the former Labour leader on Twitter on Tuesday evening, adding: “It was a long and positive talk with former British prime minister Tony Blair. We talked about immigration, Brexit and energy policies. I’ve proposed him to organise a conference on development and investment in Africa. It was a friendly and positive meeting.’’

Salvini is a controversial figure because of his far-right views. He has pledged to deport 500,000 “illegal immigrants” and one of his first moves as interior minister in June was to turn away a boat with more than 600 African refugees who had been rescued at sea while trying to reach Europe.

By contrast, Blair recently set up the Institute for Social Change, a movement dedicated to combating populism and its causes.

A spokeswoman for Blair said on Tuesday that he was giving geo-political advice through acting as chairman to an “advisory panel to the Southern Gas Corridor pipeline”.