Archbishop Leopoldo Girelli was named Apostolic Nuncio by Pope Francis on 13 March 2021.

The nuncio serves both as the ambassador of the Pope (as head of State of Vatican City) to the President of India, and as delegate and point-of-contact between the Catholic hierarchy in India and the Pope (as head of the Church).

The diplomatic mission was established as the Apostolic Delegation to the East Indies in 1881, and included Ceylon, and was extended to Malaca in 1889, and then to Burma in 1920, and eventually included Goa in 1923.

It was raised to an Internunciature by Pope Pius XII on 12 June 1948 and to a full Apostolic Nunciature by Pope Paul VI on 22 August 1967.

Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) was detached in 1967, Burma (now Myanmar) in 1973 and Malaca, as part of modern Malaysia, being detached in 1957.