Modi is the next person after Vajpayee...?
Pope Francis accepts narendra Modi's invitation to visit India. This is the first time in two decades that the prime minister of india has met the Pope. Prime minister narendra modi has insisted Pope Francis tour India.
Indian Foreign Secretary harsh vardhan Shringla described the invitation as "the best gift" by Pope Francis.
He revealed that the Pope had also met narendra modi in private. The indian Foreign Ministry said in a statement that Pope Francis had accepted Modi's invitation to visit India.
Modi, who is in italy for the G20 summit, met the Pope at the Vatican City.Analysts say Modi's invitation is important in the wake of concerns that discrimination and violence against religious minorities, including Christians, are on the rise in India.
There are allegations that the bjp is pursuing a pro-Hindutva agenda in the country. Modi has been condemning them.
Modi after Vajpayee...
In his tweet, Modi said that he had a very polite meeting with Pope Francis and had the opportunity to examine various issues with him. He said that he had invited Pope Francis to come to India.The meeting was originally scheduled to last 20 minutes but lasted up to an hour, the indian Foreign Ministry said in a statement. On this occasion, Modi presented a silver candle stand to Pope Francis.
Pope Francis presents Modi with a bronze plaque. This is the first time in almost two decades that the prime minister of india has met the Pope, according to the indian Foreign Ministry.
In june 2000, atal bihari vajpayee visited the Vatican. Met with Pope john Paul II. It was then that indian prime minister narendra modi met with the Pope.
Narendra Modi was also the first indian prime minister to meet Pope Francis, who took charge of the Vatican Church in 2013.
When is the Pope's last visit to India?
It has been 20 years since the Pope visited India. The preponderance of indian society is Hindu. There are about 2.4 crore Christians in the country. india has the largest Catholic population in Asia.Pope Francis has often mentioned his desire to visit India.Francis said in 2016 that he would visit india next year.
But notwithstanding visits to neighbouring bangladesh and Myanmar, indian Catholic leaders failed to persuade prime minister Modi to extend a solicitation to the pope.