New Delhi. Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has invited Prime Minister Modi to the G7 Outreach Summit to be held in Puglia on June 14, 2024. PM Narendra Modi will arrive in Italy to participate in the G-7 Summit starting from January 14. On January 1, 2024, Italy became the President of the G-7 for the seventh time. The 50th G-7 Summit will be held in Apulia, Italy on June 13-15, 2024. The summit will bring together the leaders of the seven member countries, as well as the President of the European Council and the President of the European Commission representing the European Union on one platform. In line with the tradition of the previous G-7 Summit, Italy has also invited many countries and international organizations to the Outreach Session of the G-7 Summit. This will be India’s 11th and PM Modi’s 5th participation in this Outreach Session of the G-7 Summit.
India has participated in ten G7 Summit Outreach Sessions so far: 2003 (France); 2005 (UK); 2006 (Russia); 2007 (Germany); 2008 (Japan); 2009 (Italy); 2019 (France); 2021 (UK); Germany (2022) and Japan (2023). All participation from India has been at the Prime Minister level. The Outreach Session of the 50th G7 Summit will have two sessions. As per details available in this regard, the focus areas of the G7 Summit will include the following:
* Indo-Pacific
* Africa
* Climate change
* Environment
* Refugee problem (migration)
* Artificial Intelligence (AI)
India’s growing importance to the G-7 becomes evident in the following points that in the last few years India has been regularly invited to the outreach sessions of the G-7 Summit. Today India is the 5th largest economy in the world. Its economy is bigger than that of three G-7 member countries- France, Italy and Canada. India has recently completed its G-20 Presidency and has become a strong voice of the Global South. In its participation in the previous G-7 Summits, India has always strongly presented the issues of the Global South on the global platform.
Prime Minister Modi presented India’s position in three plenary sessions while attending his fourth G-7 Summit in Hiroshima in 2023. The first session was on the theme “Working Together to Address Multiple Crises” which focused on food, health, development and gender. The second session was on the theme “Common Endeavor for a Resilient and Sustainable Planet” which focused on climate, energy and environment. The third session was on the theme “Towards a Peaceful, Stable and Prosperous World”. A joint outcome document on the ‘Hiroshima Action Plan for Resilient Global Food Security’ was adopted with invited partner countries. Some of the key global initiatives of India such as Lifestyle for Environment (LIFE-LIFE), International Year of Millets, International Research Initiative on Millets and Other Ancient Grains (MAHARISHI) found mention in the outcome document, among other references on issues and practices of importance to the world.
The 50th G7 Summit will see the PM’s participation as well as several bilateral meetings during the summit. The G7 countries Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the UK and the US held the first summit as the G6 in France in 1975 after the first oil crisis; Canada joined the group the following year. From 2010-2014, Russia was a member of the group and it was then called the G8. The G7 meets annually where the leaders of these nations meet every year. The annual presidency of the group is rotated among the seven countries and assigned to one member country. The G7 is not a formal body with a charter and secretariat; the member nation that holds the presidency is also responsible for setting the agenda for that year’s summit. The G7 member countries currently represent about 45% of global GDP and more than 10% of the world’s population.
From its initial focus on economic issues, the G7 has gradually become a forum for discussions to find solutions and consensus on major global challenges, including peace and security, counter-terrorism, development, education, health, environment and climate change. Since 2003, non-member countries (traditionally developing countries in Asia and Africa) have been invited to the ‘outreach’ sessions. The G7 has also promoted dialogue with non-governmental stakeholders outside the government and system, leading to the creation of a number of engagement groups on issues related to business, civil society, labour, science and education, think-tanks, women’s rights and youth. They provide their recommendations to the G7 chair country.
India-Italy diplomatic relations mark 75 years
Italy is chairing the G7 this year. Italy is the host of the G-7 summit on 13-14 June. Relations with Italy have strengthened significantly during PM Modi’s tenure. By the way, Italy and India have always had close and friendly and historical relations. The Prime Minister visited Italy for the G20 summit in October 2021. The Prime Minister of Italy was the chief guest at the Raisina Dialogue during her state visit to India in March 2023. During her visit, India-Italy bilateral relations reached the level of ‘strategic partnership’, focusing on the areas of defense, Indo-Pacific, energy and science and technology.
The Action Plan 2020.2024 adopted during the virtual summit between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and former Italian Prime Minister Conte in November 2020 sets out an ambitious agenda to enhance partnership between our countries in key areas of economy, S&T and people-to-people cooperation. Italy has joined major India-led global initiatives such as the International Solar Alliance, (ISA), Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (CDRI), Indo Pacific Ocean Initiative, Global Biofuel Alliance and India Middle East Europe Economic Corridor, reflecting the growing convergence of our views on important global issues.
Tags: G7 meeting, Narendra Modi, russia ukraine war
FIRST PUBLISHED : June 12, 2024, 23:03 IST