~ Jataayu, Bangalore
PM Modi meets and interacts with the Indian diaspora in Rome amidst the chants of Om Namah Shivaya and Bharatamata ki Jai.
PM Modi Meets Representatives Of ISKCON And Italian Hindu Union, Also Interacts With Indologists, Sanskrit Experts
These are the things that PM Narendra Modi engaged in Rome, which none of the erstwhile Indian PMs would have done during their state visits.
“Had a very warm meeting with Pope warm meeting with Pope Francis. I had the opportunity to discuss a wide range of issues with him and also invited him to visit India” is the regular diplomacy-formality stuff that every G-20 state head indulged in while they were in Rome.
Had PM Modi avoided it, it would become big news and controversy. It was wise for “the Hindu nationalist PM” to just engage in it, thus making it insignificant by that very act.
What really matters is how the Modi administration reigns in and curtails the conversion menace and missionary influence in India. The track record on that is quite decent (eg. curbing FCRA funds to NGOs), though much more must be done.
Such optics with the Pope helps cushion the political criticism of those measures. Those Hindu types who can’t think beyond momentary impulses and boil over everything are fuming and fretting over the “embrace” aimlessly. Folks, please go focus on something more serious.