New Delhi: A 12-member delegation led by External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on Friday left for Rome to attend the canonisation ceremony of Mother Teresa on Sunday.
During her three-day visit, Swaraj will also have bilateral meeting with her Italian counterpart Paolo Gentiloni, the first high-level contact between the two countries after the UN tribunal's verdict of the return of Italian marines charged with murdering two Indian fishermen off Kerala coast in 2012.
"Leaving for Rome to attend the canonisation ceremony of Mother Teresa," Swaraj tweeted.
According to official sources, Swaraj will meet her Italian counterpart over the weekend during which the two sides will review the status of bilateral ties.
The relationship between India and Italy soured after India detained Italian marines -Salvatore Girone and Massimiliano Latorre- on charges of murdering two Indian fishermen.
Unsatisfied with Indian judicial process, Italy moved the UN Tribunal, which in May this year allowed Girone to return pending the trial. Latorre is already in Italy on health grounds.
Apart from the central government delegation, two state government-level delegations from Delhi and West Bengal led by Chief Ministers Arvind Kejriwal and Mamata Banerjee respectively also left for Rome to attend the ceremony.
A 12-member official delegation and a group of industrialists are accompanying Mamata Mukherjee. She left Kolkata on an Emirates flight in the morning.
"At the invitation of Missionaries of Charity, I am leaving for the holy Vatican City to participate in the canonisation ceremony of Mother Teresa. Mother was the mother of humanity. Her love for the ailing, the needy and the entire humanity was unbounded," she said on Twitter.
"Bengal is more proud as Mother lived and worked here and showered us with her abundant love and care. It is indeed a moment of great pride and honour. Bless us Mother, so that we can continue to serve the people," Mamata said.
The Chief Minister will stay in Italy till September 5 where Rome's first woman mayor Virginia Raggi will host a special reception during her visit to Vatican City.
From Rome, she will fly to Munich where she will hold meetings with businessmen in the manufacturing sector. Mamata is scheduled to return to Kolkata on September 10.
Swaraj's delegation will comprise Minister for Food Processing Industries Harsimrat Kaur Badal, Lok Sabha MPs Prof K V Thomas, Jose K Mani, Anto Anthony and Conrad K Sangma and Deputy Chief Minister of Goa Francis D'Souza.
Others include Judge of Supreme Court Justice Kurian Joseph, eminent lawyer Harish Salve, Secretary General of Catholic Bishops' Conference of India Theodore Mascarenhas and K J Alphons. Secretary (West) in the Ministry of External Affairs Sujata Mehta will also be part of the delegation.
In March, Pope Francis had announced that Mother Teresa, who founded the Missionaries of Charity, will be elevated to sainthood after the Church recognised two miracles attributed to her after her death in 1997.
