Modi Meets Pope for First Time During G20 Rome Summit Visit... "A Difficult Encounter"

▲Narendra Modi, Prime Minister of India [Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kwon Jae-hee] Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will have his first meeting with Pope Francis in Rome, Italy.

According to local media such as the Hindustan Times and foreign news agencies on the 29th, Prime Minister Modi will visit Rome and Glasgow, UK, sequentially from that day until the 2nd of next month.

Modi plans to attend the Group of Twenty (G20) summit in Rome until the 31st, and then move to Glasgow, where the 26th United Nations Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26) will be held.

An official said that Modi plans to visit the Vatican and meet the Pope on the 30th, the day after his arrival in Rome.

This will be the first time since Modi took office in 2014 that he meets the Pope.

Foreign and Indian media are paying attention to the fact that Modi, who is strengthening conservative Hinduism, will directly meet the head of the global Catholic Church.

AFP news agency even referred to this as a "difficult meeting."

Since coming to power, the Modi government has been criticized for intensifying oppression and discrimination against minorities such as Muslims and Christians through amendments to the citizenship law and the revocation of the special status of Indian-administered Kashmir.

In some states ruled by the ruling party, such as Uttar Pradesh, a "anti-forced conversion law" has even been enacted.

This law is known to have been established to prevent non-Hindu men from forcibly converting Hindu women through marriage.

Violent incidents between religious groups within India are also frequent.

In March, radical Hindus in the central state of Chhattisgarh attacked a church with weapons, seriously injuring eight people.

In February last year, clashes between Muslims and Hindus over the citizenship law occurred in New Delhi, resulting in about 40 deaths.

Most of the victims were Muslims. Muslims have protested that the Indian government expanded opportunities for illegal residents to obtain citizenship but excluded only Muslims.

Hindus in India are known to account for about 80% of the total population of 1.38 billion. The proportions of Muslims and Christians are only 14% and 2%, respectively.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.