Bhubaneswar: Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Wednesday met Pope Francis in Vatican City. Secretary to CM VK Pandian was with the CM during the meeting.
“It has been an absolute pleasure meeting His Holiness Pope Francis (@Pontifex) in Vatican City. Thanked him for the warm audience and wished him good health and a long life,” Patnaik said in a tweet.
The Chief Minister is leading a high-level delegation to Rome and Dubai. The delegation is scheduled to visit the World Food Programme (WFP) headquarters in Rome to share Odisha’s “transformational journey” in food security and disaster management.
As per schedule, he will also meet the Odia diaspora from various parts of Europe. He will discuss the possible ways to engage with the diaspora in promoting the art and culture of Odisha and also enabling them to partner in the state’s transformational journey.
On his way back, the Chief Minister will meet investors from the Middle East and adjoining regions in Dubai. He will extend an invitation to the potential investors to come and invest in Odisha and assure them of all the support and facilitation by the state government.
He will also have one-on-one meetings with some big investors from the region. A high-level industrial delegation from Odisha will also be present during the investors meet for possible partnerships with the foreign investors.
The Chief Minister will meet the Odia diaspora from the Middle East in Dubai and discuss with them Odisha’s transformational journey over the last two decades and invite them to partner with the state government.
On Tuesday, the Chief Minister paid tribute to freedom fighter Mahatma Gandhi at the MG Memorial Statue at the Piazza Gandhi in Rome. Speaking on the occasion, Patnaik said that he is inspired by the ideals and principles of India’s father of the nation, Mahatma Gandhi.
