New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi met Pope Francis, the Supreme Leader of Catholic Christianity, ahead of delegation-level talks in Vatican City today. According to sources, Prime Minister Modi has invited Pope Francis to visit India. If Pope Francis accepts this invitation, this will be his first visit to India. Earlier, Pope John Paul II had visited India in 1999 during the Prime Ministership of Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
Sources said that only a 20-minute meeting was scheduled between PM Modi and Pope Francis in the Vatican, but the talks between the two lasted for about an hour. PM Modi and Pope Francis discussed measures like eradicating poverty and preventing climate change.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi shared photos of his meeting with Pope Francis at the Vatican, saying, “Had a warm meeting with Pope Francis, discussed a variety of topics with him and also invited him to visit India”.
Earlier, India’s Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla had told that Prime Minister Modi will meet the Pope personally and after some time there will be delegation-level talks. Shringla said the Vatican has not set any agenda for the talks. I believe there is a tradition that when discussions with the Most Reverend (Pope) are held, there is no agenda and we respect that. I am sure that during this time we will be involved in discussions on the global scenario in general and those issues which are important to us.
He said, Covid-19, health issues, how can we work together. These are some of the topics that I believe will be discussed in general. Let us inform that Prime Minister Modi is on a visit to Rome, Italy and Vatican City from 29 to 31 October at the invitation of Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi.
After reaching Italy on Friday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi was honored with a guard of honor. After which PM Modi met Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi.
