PM Modi pays tributes to Mahatma Gandhi in Rome, to meet Pope Francis on Saturday

ROME: Prime Minister Narendra Modi paid floral tributes at the bust of Mahatma Gandhi in Rome on Friday and said his ideals reverberate globally.

''In Rome, I had the opportunity to pay homage to Mahatma Gandhi, whose ideas give courage and inspiration to millions globally,'' Modi said in a tweet. The Prime Minister, who is in the Italian capital to attend the G20 Summit, was cheered by an enthusiastic group of Indians at the venue.

The Prime Minister will meet Pope Francis on October 30 during his G-20 summit in Rome.

''The ideals of the great Bapu reverberate globally," the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) tweeted.

PMO sources said Prime Minister Modi has made it a point to pay rich tributes to the Father of the Nation during his every overseas trip since he took office in 2014.

He offered floral tributes to him in Washington DC in September 2014 and unveiled a statue of Gandhi at Brisbane in Australia in November same year. In his speech, official sources noted, Modi had said, ''On October 2, 1869, it was not just a person who was born in Porbandar... but an era was born." ''He has often quoted Mahatma Gandhi's teachings in his speeches, not only when he is speaking to the countrymen but also when he addresses the global community, be it from the United Nations or during his international visits,'' they said. In April 2015 Modi had unveiled a Gandhi bust at Hannover in Germany, and in July the same year, he unveiled a statue of Bapu at Bagtyarlyk Sports Complex in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan. In the same month, he also unveiled a Gandhi statue at Bishkek in Kyrgyzstan, they noted. During his visit to South Africa in July 2016, Modi visited the places associated with Gandhi and paid tributes to him at Johannesburg as well as Sarvodaya in Phoenix Settlement, which was his residence.

He also retraced Gandhi's noted train journey in South Africa during which he was thrown out due to his skin color, which had strengthened his resolve to fight the injustice against the Indian community. During his 2016 trips to Kenya and Portugal, Modi paid homage to Gandhi, and he and South Korean President Moon Jae-in unveiled a bust of the Indian leader at the Yonsei University in Seoul in 2019, official sources noted. Modi had then said that Gandhi's thoughts and ideas have the power to help the world overcome the menace of terrorism and climate change, two challenges humanity faces in these times.