Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday (local time) arrived in Rome, where he is scheduled to attend the G20 Summit in Italy’s presidency and other key global events.

Modi is holding a joint meeting with Charles Michel, President of the European Council and Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission in Rome ahead of the G20 summit. Sources claimed there are three such bilateral meetings lined up on the sidelines of the summit.

Prime Minister Modi will pay tribute to Mahatma Gandhi on his first day of arrival in Rome. He will also call on Pope Francis in the Vatican during his two-day visit.

The Prime Minister is visiting Rome on the invitation of Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi at whose residence he is expected to be hosted in the evening.

“Landed in Rome to take part in the @g20org Summit, an important forum to deliberate on key global issues. I also look forward to other programmes through this visit to Rome,” PM Modi tweeted.

He will be in Glasgow, United Kingdom, on November 1 and 2 for the COP26 meeting at the invitation of British Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

This will be the first  in-person G20 summit following the pandemic, said the PMO, adding that the opportunity will allow discussion on how to make G20 an engine of strengthening economic resilience.

In Rome, the Prime Minister will join other G20 Leaders during the 16th summit in discussions on global economic and health recovery from the pandemic, sustainable development, and climate change.

“This will be the first in-person Summit of the G20 since the outbreak of the pandemic in 2020 and will allow us to take stock of the current global situation and exchange ideas on how the G20 can be an engine for strengthening economic resilience and building back inclusively and sustainably from the pandemic,” the PMO said.

On the sidelines of the G20 Summit, the Prime Minister will also meet leaders of other partner countries and review the progress in India’s bilateral relations with them.

In Glasgow, the Prime Minister will participate in the high-level segment of COP-26 titled ‘World Leaders’ Summit’ (WLS) on 1 and 2 November along with 120 heads of states and governments from around the world.

On 30 October, the Prime Minister is scheduled to meet Pope Francis at the Vatican early morning and will attend the G20 summit that has “Global Economy and Global Health” as the first session.

The same day, Prime Minister Modi is scheduled to have a meeting with President of France Emmanuel Macron and a meeting with the President of Indonesia Joko Widodo. PM Modi is expected to have a meeting with Singapore PM Lee Hosein Loong as well.

The next day, the Prime Minister is expected to have a meeting with Prime Minister of Spain Pedro Sanchez and German Chancellor Angela Merkel on the sidelines of the G20 summit.

(with agency inputs)