Today is the second day of PM Narendra Modi's Europe tour. Arriving in Vatican City, he met Pope Francis, the biggest religious leader of Catholic Christians, and the Secretary of State, Cardinal Pietro Parolin. This was PM Modi's first meeting with Pope Francis. The meeting with the Pope was not part of the Prime Minister's official schedule, as the Foreign Ministry had not given any information about it. After this, Modi will meet three heads of state including French President Emmanuel Macron.
Modi's meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron is considered very important. The issue of 'Aakus' (AUKUS) was also discussed between the two last month. However, then this conversation took place over the phone. There was a lot of tension between America, Britain, and Australia regarding the submarine deal and its impact was directly visible on AUKUS somewhere.
Talks between Joe Biden and Macron have taken place and the matter seems to be cooling down. PM Modi will try not to have differences between the AUKUS countries in any way because if this happens then China can take advantage of it in the Indian and the Pacific Oceans and no country will want this. In the meeting of Modi-Macron, the mutual relations are set to be discussed in detail.
Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Putin are attending the summit virtually. That is, there is no possibility that the PM will meet the leaders of both countries on this world forum. So India and Russia enjoy friendly relations and have strong defense cooperation; But not only is the world concerned about China but India is especially threatened by China.
India would like all the allies of the South China Sea
The issue of Ladakh is not yet resolved and even after 14 rounds of talks, there has been no complete withdrawal of troops from some areas. In such a situation, India would like all the allies of the South China Sea to be brought together against the expansionist intentions of China. There will be Indonesia here and also Singapore. So Modi will meet the heads of state of both these countries.
