Narendra Modi Meets Pope Francis in Vatican, Invites Pointiff to India
10:42 GMT 30.10.2021 (Updated: 10:40 GMT 19.07.2022)
© REUTERS / VATICAN MEDIA
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During a two-day visit to Rome for the G20 Summit, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi met his Italian counterpart Mario Draghi and Pope Francis. After the end of the G20 Summit on 31 October, Modi will travel to Glasgow to attend the 26th Conference of Parties (COP-26).
On Saturday, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi met the head of the Roman Catholic Church – Pope Francis – for the first time in Vatican City as part of his Rome visit for the G20 Summit.
Modi posted pictures of his meeting with Pope Francis on social media and wrote that he discussed a wide range of issues. The PM also invited the pontiff to India.
Modi is the fifth Indian prime minister to visit the head of the Roman Catholic Church, the largest religious denomination in the world.
Their meeting was scheduled for 20 minutes but went on for an hour, news agency PTI reported.
Had a very warm meeting with Pope Francis. I had the opportunity to discuss a wide range of issues with him and also invited him to visit India. @Pontifex pic.twitter.com/QP0If1uJAC
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) October 30, 2021
On Friday, Modi was received by his Italian counterpart Mario Draghi as he arrived at Palazzo Chigi for their first meeting in person. He was welcomed with a guard of honour before engaging in delegation-level talks on climate change and the situation in Afghanistan.
"They reiterated their desire for working closer together for furthering the India-EU multi-faceted cooperation," said a release from the Ministry of External Affairs in New Delhi.
Glad to have met PM Mario Draghi in Rome. We talked about ways to strengthen the friendship between India and Italy. There is great potential to further scale up economic linkages, cultural cooperation and for us to work together towards a more environment friendly planet. pic.twitter.com/9sMuDPHSqp
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) October 29, 2021
The prime ministers also reiterated their commitment to expand trade and investment ties between the two countries in the textile, food processing, automotive, and renewable energy sectors.
On the bilateral side, the two leaders reviewed developments since the India-Italy Virtual Summit held in November 2020. They also said they were satisfied with how the 2020-2025 Action Plan is progressing, which outlines the countries' political, economic, and cultural goals over the next five years.
