India / PM Narendra Modi reaches Italy to attend 16th G20 Summit

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived in Rome on Friday to attend the 16th G-20 Summit and meet Pope Francis at the Vatican.

The PM was received by senior officials of the Government of Italy and Ambassador of India in Italy, said an official news release.

The PM will be in Rome and the Vatican City from October 29 to 31 to participate in the G-20 Summit and meet the Pope and the Vatican Secretary of State, Cardinal Pietro Parolin.

On his Europe tour, the PM will attend two important international conferences, the other being the annual climate summit (Committee of Parties) in Glasgow, the UK.

The PM in his pre-departure statement had noted that the G20 summit would be the first since the outbreak of the pandemic in 2020 and would allow the world’s 20 major economies to take stock of the current global situation and exchange ideas on how the grouping can be an engine to strengthen economic resilience.

In Glasgow, the PM will attend the high-level segment of COP26 where he will also highlight the need to comprehensively address climate change issues, including equitable distribution of carbon space, support for mitigation, mobilisation of finance and technology transfer.

“India is among the top countries in the world in terms of installed renewable energy, wind and solar energy capacity. Today, India is creating new records in collective effort for climate adaptation, mitigation and resilience and forging multilateral alliances. At the WLS, I will share India’s excellent track record on climate action and our achievements,’’ the PM had said.

“We are going to Glasgow with a positive mindset. Our own performance has been much better and we have also contributed to the global framework. We will engage proactively but countries occupying larger carbon space need to see how best to work together,’’ observed Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla at a media briefing here on Thursday.