In attendance at the G7 Summit outreach session, Prime Minister Narendra Modi landed in Apulia, Italy on Thursday (local time). On Friday, he is slated to meet with a number of leaders off-site. The Prime Minister is travelling abroad for the first time since taking office for a record-breaking third term.
“Looking forward to engaging in productive discussions with world leaders. Together, we aim to address global challenges and foster international cooperation for a brighter future,” he tweeted.
Before leaving for Italy, Prime Minister Modi expressed his “gladness” at having been to the European country for the G7 Summit as his first overseas trip of his third consecutive term in office.
PM Modi will speak during the G7 Summit outreach session, according to a video message from the airport in Brindisi, according to MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal.
“The Prime Minister of India has arrived at Brindisi Airport in Italy to participate in the G7 Summit. Tomorrow (Friday) is a packed day for him. We have several bilateral meetings with world leaders lined up. He will also be addressing the outreach session of the G7 Summit,” he said.
Prior to his departure, Prime Minister Modi underlined that during the outreach portion of the summit, India will concentrate on energy, artificial intelligence, Africa, and the Mediterranean. He added that topics important to the Global South will be covered.
In September of last year, India hosted the G20 Summit in Delhi, which was also attended by international leaders attending the Apulia meeting, which was organised under the Italian presidency. Giorgia Meloni, the prime minister of Italy, will greet Modi on Friday when he takes office as the head of the Italian Council of Ministers.
Italy, which is now serving as the G7 Chair, is hosting the meeting of the European Union and the group of seven major advanced economies, which also includes Canada, France, Germany, Japan, the UK, and the US.
India received an invitation from Italy to participate in the summit as an outreach nation. With 10 G7 summits attended by India, this marks PM Modi’s fifth consecutive year participating at the summit.
PM Modi and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni are expected to have a bilateral meeting during the summit. According to US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan, PM Modi would probably see US President Joe Biden outside the conference.
The main topic of discussion will likely be the Russia-Ukraine conflict, as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy showed up for the meeting on Thursday. Even though India has reaffirmed that “dialogue and diplomacy” are the preferable course of action, Sunak is spearheading demands for “decisive” actions to help Ukraine “whatever it takes”.
Foreign Secretary Vinay Kwatra mentioned Prime Minister Modi’s September 2022 statement that “today’s era is not of war” during his pre-visit media briefing. On the fringes of the meeting, the Foreign Secretary stated, India will keep presenting its viewpoint to international leaders.
Meloni stated that southern Italy was selected as the location to send a clear message to the Global South during her opening remarks on Thursday at the G7 leaders’ conference.
UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, Biden, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, French President Emmanuel Macron, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council President Charles Michel were the G7 leaders who attended Thursday’s meeting.
Leaders of eleven developing nations in Africa, South America, and the Indo-Pacific area have also been invited by Italy to attend the G7 Summit, in addition to India.
