INDIA-VATICAN CITY

About:

• This was the first meeting between an Indian Prime Minister and the Pope in more than two decades.
  
  
• In June 2000, Late Prime Minister Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee had last visited the Vatican and met the then Pope, His Holiness John Paul II.
  
  
• India and The Holy See have friendly relations dating back to the establishment of diplomatic relations in 1948.
  
  
• India is home to the second largest Catholic population in Asia.
  
  
• Prime Minster extended an invitation to His Holiness Pope Francis to visit India at an early date, which was accepted with pleasure.