He managed the agreements and conversations with those foreign entities, that’s his job as Minister of Foreign Affairs, recently renamed Secretary of State to sound more powerful. The article tries to imply Parolin is right-hand in the usual meaning of a trusted collaborator with special status and influence. While Parolin is important part of inner circle, he is not pope’s “right hand.” That person is inconspicuous and his power goes way beyond State, maybe even outside the Vatican.
And who would be that "person" be? Remember the buck stops at Bergoglio.