PM Modi in Rome: EU leaders, Italian PM congratulate India on 1-billion COVID vaccine feat

As India was being hailed by the world leaders for its massive success on COVID-19 vaccination, the European Union leaders and Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi congratulated Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his nation's “excellent” progress to combat the virus and resuming vaccine exports. Just days before PM Modi left for the first-ever visit to Rome since acquiring the office, India achieved a historic feat of surpassing 100 crore COVID-19 vaccination. In a press briefing on Friday, Foreign Secretary Harsh Shringla said that the European leaders lauded India for the number of vaccines administered in the nation and the percentage that the authorities covered in the first dose.

“The EU leaders as well as the Italian Prime Minister did congratulate Prime Minister for India's excellent progress on vaccination, both in terms of numbers of vaccines actually administered in our country and also in terms of the percentage of people covered in terms of the first dose,” said Shringla.

Upon his arrival in Rome, PM Modi met with President of European Council Charles Michel and President of European Commission Ursula von der Leyen. In the meeting, Shringla underscored that the Prime Minister discussed a range of issues with the EU officials, including climate change, the COVID-19 situation along with other contemporary global and regional developments. They also discussed issues that "relate to the G20 Summit” and India-EU ties. 

The Prime Minister also met with Italian counterpart Mario Draghi at Palazzo Chigi in Rome. On all meetings, Shringla stated that “the main issues of discussion were related to G20 Summit. Prime Minister arrived in Italy on Friday for in-person participation in the two-day G20 Summit along with several other bilateral meetings." 

PM to discuss COVID-19, global economy at G20

PM Modi met Von Der Leyen, Michel and Draghi on the sidelines of the 16th G20 Summit in Rome. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will discuss the COVID-19 pandemic, global economic situation, sustainable development and climate change with the Group of 20 (G20) leaders on Saturday, 30 October, informed the Foreign Secretary. 

The G20 leaders, who will meet in person for the first time since the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic, include premiers of Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Republic of Korea, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Turkey, the United Kingdom, the United States, and the European Union.

(IMAGE: Twitter)