On Friday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi met Pope Francis at the G7 Outreach Summit in Italy. After a handshake and a warm hug, Modi briefly interacted with the Pope and invited him to visit India.
“Met Pope Francis on the sidelines of the @G7 Summit. I admire his commitment to serve people and make our planet better. Also invited him to visit India,” Modi shared in a post on X.
The 87-year-old head of the worldwide Catholic Church was escorted around the table in a wheelchair to greet each world leader at the summit.
Modi, who arrived in Italy’s Apulia late Thursday night, also engaged with UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, French President Emmanuel Macron, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
During a bilateral meeting, Modi and Macron reviewed India-France relations, focusing on the ‘Horizon 2047’ Roadmap and the Indo-Pacific Roadmap. According to the PIB, their discussions covered cooperation in defense, nuclear, space, education, climate action, digital public infrastructure, connectivity, and cultural initiatives such as the National Museum partnership and enhancing people-to-people ties. They agreed to intensify strategic defense cooperation with a greater emphasis on ‘Make in India’.
The two leaders also exchanged views on key global and regional issues.
Modi also held a bilateral meeting with UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, where they reaffirmed their commitment to strengthening bilateral relations. They discussed the implementation of the Roadmap 2030 and expressed satisfaction with progress in all areas of the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, including high-level political consultations, defense and security, trade and economic collaboration, critical and high technology sectors, and people-to-people ties, according to a PIB release.
Modi and Sunak also expressed satisfaction with the progress in Free Trade Agreement negotiations between the two countries and discussed regional and multilateral matters of mutual interest.
