Indian PM Modi meets Pope Francis for first time

(News 1st); Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has invited Pope Francis to pay a visit to India. The invitation came after Modi shared images of his first private meeting with the Pope at the Vatican. https://twitter.com/narendramodi/status/1454369975171485696?s=20 Modi, the first Indian Prime Minister to meet Francis since he became Pope in 2013, also tweeted pictures of him embracing Pope Francis. “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,” Modi tweeted after the historic meeting. Pope Francis received Prime Minister Narendra Modi in a private audience at the Apostolic Palace in the Vatican, the Ministry of External Affairs said in a press release. This was the first meeting between an Indian Prime Minister and the Pope in more than two decades. In June 2000, late Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee had last visited the Vatican and met the then Pope, His Holiness John Paul II. India and The Holy See have friendly relations dating back to the establishment of diplomatic ties in 1948. India is home to the second-largest Catholic population in Asia, the release said. During the meeting, the two leaders discussed the Covid-19 pandemic and its consequences for people worldwide. They also discussed the challenge posed by climate change as well.