PM meets Head of the Papal Household, Mons. Leonardo Sapienza.

Vatican City:

Prime Minister Narendra Modi left Vatican City after meeting Pope Francis on Saturday. He was accompanied by National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and Foreign Minister Dr S Jaishankar. The Prime Minister held a one-on-one meeting with the Pope today ahead of the delegation-level talks during which they are expected to discuss a range of issues such as COVID-19.

PM Modi is on a two-day visit to Rome for the G20 Summit at the invitation of Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi.

There was no set agenda for the talks with the Pope. “I believe tradition is not to have an agenda when you discuss issues with His Holiness. And I think we respect that. I’m sure the issues that will be covered would cover a range of areas of interests in terms of the general global perspectives and issues that are important to all of us,” Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan had said yesterday.

#WATCH Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the Vatican City to meet Pope Francis

He is accompanied by NSA Ajit Doval and EAM Dr S Jaishankar pic.twitter.com/JZiMbXUtLN

— ANI (@ANI) October 30, 2021

PM Modi will then head to Glasgow in the UK for the COP26 meeting at the invitation of British Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

The Prime Minister interacted with people of different countries, including the Indian community and friends of India from different organisations in the Italian capital on Friday.

Earlier, PM Modi had paid floral tributes at the bust of Mahatma Gandhi in Rome.