World leaders head to Rome for funeral of Pope Francis
Rome: The funeral of Pope Francis on Saturday brings about an unexpected opportunity for Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's efforts at bringing Rome to the centre of global diplomacy.
US President Donald Trump has announced his presence for the funeral as Rome works with the Vatican's diplomacy to receive delegations from 170 countries. President Droupadi Murmu will be visiting Vatican City to attend the State Funeral of Pope Francis and offer condolences on behalf of the government and people of India. The Indian delegation would also include Union Minister for Parliamentary Affairs and Minority Affairs Kiren Rijiju, Minister of State for Minority Affairs and Fisheries George Kurian; and Deputy Speaker of Goa Assembly Joshua De Souza.
Trump's presence in Rome for the funeral creates an opportunity for conversations and discussions with Italian Prime Minister Meloni which would have probably taken weeks or months to coordinate. It is expected that Italy's President Sergio Mattarella will host a meeting with Presidents Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Meloni's presence to discuss a strategy for the future of Ukraine. The US President has also announced that he expects to have "meetings" with other international leaders in Rome.
Meanwhile, it seems European Commission President Von der Leyen is trying to conduct a bilateral meeting with the US President during a visit to the eternal city.
The Italian Prime Minister's visit to Washington concluded with President Trump accepting her invitation to Rome for an EU-US summit in late May. Pope's funeral presents Von der Leyen, who felt excluded from the decision-making process, an opportunity to push for a bilateral meeting and take control of the narrative.
Meloni and Trump will jointly meet world leaders and other senior representatives who will be in Rome for the funeral, especially those from the Middle East. In the past 24 hours, Meloni has had a call with the Sultan of Oman, after his return from Moscow as well as Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi after the terror attack in Pahalgam.
Both Trump and Meloni are strong allies of the Indian Prime Minister and the terrorist attack in Jammu and Kashmir and the resulting tension in South Asia, will be an important discussion point between them. Discussions with other delegations from the Indo-Mediterranean, including the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Oman and Jordan, will also be important for both leaders.
Iran is expected to send a senior delegation to the funeral and the new Cardinal of Tehran-Isfahan, who has been a bridge between the Vatican and Tehran will vote in the coming conclave. While Russian President Vladimir Putin will not attend the funeral, the country is expected to be represented by its culture minister. As many as 50 heads of state and 10 reigning monarchs will be present at St. Peters, including Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, Argentinian President Javier Milei, Philippine's Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and France's Emmanuel Macron. The United Kingdom will be represented by Prince William and Prime Minister Keir Starmer.
China, which has no diplomatic relations with the Holy See, has allowed Hong Kong's outspoken Roman Catholic Cardinal Joseph Zen to travel to Rome for the funeral. Taiwan, breaking with tradition, will be represented by a high-level delegation and not the President. The Holy See is one of the few countries which has diplomatic relations with Taiwan.
Israel will be represented by a small delegation, given tensions on Pope Francis' view of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's approach to the Hamas terrorist attack. Despite it being forbidden for Jews to attend funeral services on Saturday, their holy Sabbath, the Chief Rabbi of Rome Riccardo di Segni and the President of the Jewish Community in Rome, Victor Fadlun will both attend the funeral - a testament to the goodwill Pope Francis had developed with all communities.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Hindustan Times
32 minutes ago
- Hindustan Times
MHA releases ₹25 cr for damaged houses due to Pak shelling post Op Sindoor
Three days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced additional compensation to the families whose houses in the border areas were damaged in Pakistan shelling post Operation Sindoor, Union home minister Amit Shah facilitated provision of release of ₹25 crore from his ministry for as many as 2,060 houses. The ministry of home affairs (MHA) said in a statement on Monday, 'Following the announcement by Prime Minister Narendra Modi regarding additional compensation for houses damaged in border areas, Shah ensured swift action by facilitating an additional provision of ₹25 crore from the MHA for 2,060 houses.' While inaugurating the Chenab railway bridge, the world's highest single arch rail bridge, that completes the 272-km long Udhampur-Srinagar -Baramulla Rail Link (USBRL) project, Modi said last Friday that stung by India's Operation Sindoor, a desperate Pakistan attacked innocent people including children in Jammu and Poonch. As a special case, Modi announced additional compensation of ₹2 lakh for each fully damaged house and ₹1 lakh for each partially damaged house. 'The MHA has ensured swift implementation of this decision. Similar compensation will also be provided in the border areas of Punjab,' the ministry said on Monday. Following operation Sindoor, several incidents of cross border shelling were reported in border districts of Jammu and Kashmir. 'Hundreds of families suffered due to cross border shelling on residential areas, schools, religious structures including gurudwaras, temples, mosques and commercial properties. The administration took proactive measures to anticipate possible events and ensure effective response. A total of 3.25 lakh persons were evacuated from the border districts, out of which about 15,000 persons were accommodated in about 397 shelter sheds or accommodation centres equipped with facilities like food, water, health care, electricity etc,' MHA said. It further said that 394 ambulances were deployed in all border districts to take patients to hospitals for treatment during the shelling, out of which 62 ambulances were deployed in Poonch district alone. 'A total of 2,818 civil defence volunteers were also deployed for services related to health, fire and emergency services, livestock, essential supplies etc,' it added. Operation Sindoor was India's direct military response to the April 22 terror strike at Pahalgam in Kashmir that killed 26 people in what was the worst attack on civilians since the 26/11 Mumbai strikes. Indian forces launched the operation in the early hours of May 7, bombing nine terror camps in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK). The pre-dawn strikes on May 7 --- in which at least 100 terrorists were killed --- sparked a series of attacks and counterattacks across the western border, involving fighter jets, missiles, armed drones, and fierce artillery and rocket duels. In one such counterattack on the night of May 9-10, the Indian Air Force struck targets at 13 Pakistani air bases and military installations. After four days of fighting, military hostilities were stopped on May 10 evening as the two nations reached an understanding. Earlier, Shah visited Poonch on May 29–30, during which he handed over appointment letters on compassionate grounds to the family members of those who lost their lives due to cross-border firing. 'As per the norms, compensation for the damages caused by cross-border shelling was provided immediately,' MHA said.
Hindustan Times
32 minutes ago
- Hindustan Times
Shah's speech on Tamil Nadu ‘blatant lies': A Raja
Amit Shah is trying to disturb the peace in a harmonious state like Tamil Nadu, said DMK's A Raja on Monday while emphasising that the Union home minister's speech attacking them a day ago were'blatant lies'. 'His speech was three things — disgusting, blatant lies without evidence and divisive,' Raja said in a press conference. Shah in Madurai on Sunday launched a scathing attack on the MK Stalin-led DMK government for 'rising corruption, crimes against women and drug mafia' over the last four years and said that the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) would form the government in Tamil Nadu in the 2026 assembly elections. 'Their communal politics does not work here. People of Tamil Nadu have repeatedly shown the BJP that their politics will not be accepted here,' Raja said. He added that they are not afraid of Shah and Prime Minister Narendra Modi. ' We are not afraid of Shah and Modi. Afterall, they are ordinary people. Why are they not able to win here? Because we have an ideology that is an alternative to theirs. As long as Dravidian ideology exists, they cannot gain a foothold here. We are not Delhi, Maharashtra and Haryana. We are Tamil Nadu, we are Dravidam, they (BJP) cannot come here.' Raja rebutted Shah's speech point by point and listed chief minister MK Stalin's achievement while adding that the BJP-led Union government is creating confusion over the delimitation process. On Shah urging people to participate in large numbers on June 22 for BJP's conference on Lord Murugan in Madurai, Raja said that the people know that it is to whip up communal sentiments. 'You are not conducting this for the unity of Hindus but to bring in religious divide by going against Islam, Christianity and marginalised people,' the Lok Sabha MP said. Naam Tamilar Katchi (NTK) chief S Seeman too said that the BJP should not politicise Tamil deity Lord Murugan. 'There is a value for Murugan in the state. Why didn't BJP speak of his glory all these days,' Seeman told reporters. 'You take up Rama in Uttar Pradesh, Puri Jagannath in Odisha, Aiyyappa in Kerala, and then Murugan here. Do you think people here will be deceived?' In response, the BJP said Shah ensured that the BJP forms the government in Haryana, Maharashtra and Delhi. 'He has come to Tamil Nadu to pack off the DMK in the 2026 assembly elections,' BJP's Tamil Nadu chief Nainar Nagendran said.
Time of India
33 minutes ago
- Time of India
PM Modi to visit Cyprus in the middle of Turkiye-Pakistan solidarity
Prime Minister Narendra Modi (File photo) NEW DELHI: As India works to expand its footprint in Europe, PM Narendra Modi will visit Cyprus on his way to Canada for the G7 summit and Croatia while returning home. Both Cyprus and Croatia are members of the EU and the former will hold the rotating presidency of the EU Council for the first half of the next year. Modi was scheduled to travel to Croatia last month, along with the Netherlands and Norway, but the visit had to be postponed because of the military tensions between India and Pakistan. The G7 summit takes place at Kananaskis in Alberta from June 15 to 17, with Modi participating in the outreach session on the last day. The eleventh hour invitation by Canada means that PM's programme is yet to be finalised but government sources said efforts are underway to schedule bilateral meetings. The visit to Cyprus, only the 3rd by an Indian PM after A B Vajpayee in 2002 and Indira Gandhi in 1983, will also be followed closely as it comes in the middle of tensions between India and Turkiye over the latter's support to Pakistan - and the show of solidarity by President Recep Erdogan himself - during the India-Pakistan military clash last month. Ankara's recognition of the so-called Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus in the northern region that was seized by Turkish forces in 1974 and differences over gas exploration rights in the Eastern Mediterranean remain a constant source of tensions between Turkiye and Cyprus. India has consistently backed solution of what is known as the Cyprus problem through UNSC resolutions and international law. As Turkiye stands solidly with Pakistan, India has sought to strengthen ties with both Cyprus and Greece, focusing on defence and security cooperation. Modi became the first Indian PM to visit Greece in 40 years when he travelled to Athens in 2023. Both countries have supported India on issues concerning terrorism and also on Kashmir. According to the MEA, Cyprus has backed India on a number of significant issues like India's election to UNSC, the India-US Civil Nuclear Agreement, NSG membership and also the 1998 nuclear tests. Modi's visit to Croatia on his way back will also be the first visit by any Indian PM to the country. S Jaishankar became the first Indian foreign minister to visit the southeast European country in 2021 as the 2 countries looked to expand bilateral ties. Two years later, India and Croatia also signed an MoU for defence cooperation.
