Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday invited Pope Francis to visit his country, a friendly gesture towards the leader of 1.3 billion Catholics from a leader of a predominantly Hindu country.
“I had a very warm meeting with Pope Francis. I had the opportunity to discuss many topics with him and I also invited him to visit India, ”Narendra Modi wrote on his Twitter account after his meeting with the Pope.
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. @Pontifex pic.twitter.com/QP0If1uJAC
– Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) October 30, 2021
The Indian Prime Minister, whose Hindu nationalist government is regularly accused of persecuting religious minorities, was greeted at the Vatican by a picket of honor from the Swiss Guard. The Vatican said in a brief statement that the audience granted by the Pope to Narendra Modi had focused on “friendly relations” between India and the Holy See.
In a message made public on Friday, on the eve of the arrival of the Indian Prime Minister at the Vatican, the Pontifical Council for Inter-religious Dialogue had addressed to its “dear Hindu friends (…) its most cordial greeting” to the occasion of Diwali, the Hindu religious festival of lights which takes place in early November.
A “very important” first meeting
Saturday’s audience was the first meeting between the Pope and Narendra Modi. Indian Foreign Minister Harsh Vardhan Shringla himself stressed two days ago that it was “very important”.
According to religious officials, discrimination and violence against religious minorities in India, where Hindus are the majority, has been on the rise since the rise to power in 2014 of Narendra Modi’s Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
While Muslims, who account for 14% of the country’s population, have suffered most of the violence, Christians (2% of the population) are also victims.