On June 13, Prime Minister Modi departed for Italy to take part in the 50th G7 summit. The G7 leaders' summit is scheduled to take place from June 13–15, 2024, in the opulent resort town of Borgo Egnazia in the Apulia region of Italy. Global leaders from the US, UK, Canada, Germany, Italy, Japan, France, and the European Union will join PM Modi.
The G7 summit 2024
The G7 Summit for the year 2024 is being held in Italy. Apulia's opulent hotel, Borgo Egnazia, will host the leaders for the G7 Summit. There will be representatives from each of the G7 nations—the United States, Canada, Germany, France, Italy, Canada, and Britain. The leaders of the European Commission and the European Council will also be present.
G7 Summit Agenda 2024
The G7 meeting, which is being chaired by Italy, has selected a number of important goals for the coming year. The first is the conflict between Russia and Ukraine in the Middle East, which has an impact on the global agenda. The second is the relationship with developing countries and emerging economies, with an emphasis on Africa and the Indo-Pacific region. The third is migration, which includes food security, energy linkages, and climate change. Finally, there is artificial intelligence.
Global Leaders To Attend The Summit
Among the notable leaders present at the summit are Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, US President Joe Biden, and French President Emmanuel Macron. Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the president of Ukraine, is also expected to attend a meeting about Russia's invasion of his country.
G7 Summit 2024, Italy | X
The host of the G7 may also choose to extend invitations to foreign visitors for longer sessions. The grouping has been using this tactic more and more in an effort to position itself as a voice for populations other than the affluent West.
Italy, however, has invited an unprecedented number of world leaders, including Pope Francis, King Abdullah II of Jordan, leaders of Ukraine, India, Brazil, Argentina, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, Kenya, Algeria, Tunisia, and Mauritania. Normally, the number of guests is much smaller.
The heads of the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, the African Development Bank, and the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) will also be in attendance, in addition to the UN secretary-general.
India's Agenda In The G7 Summit
At the G7 summit in 2024, PM Modi will present the following agenda items:
1. Highlight the importance of the global south and India's development goals.
2. Indo-Pacific and economic security.
3. AI: potential and application for development.
4. PM Modi to engage with leaders on geopolitical issues, development-prone discussions, and problem-solving.
Ambassador Vani Rao states that defense and maritime cooperation are among India's priorities for the G7 summit, where the country has been invited as an outreach. "Defence and security will be an important pillar that we want to build here. We are looking at cooperation in critical technologies, linking the defence industries of the two countries and also maritime cooperation," Ambassador Vani Rao stated according to an ANI report.
“India’s regular participation at the G7 summit clearly points to increasing recognition and contribution of the efforts that India has been making in trying to resolve global challenges, including those of peace, security, development and environment preservation. India’s participation at this G7 Summit acquires particular salience in context of India’s recently held, not so recent, presidency of the G20, where India took a leading role in building global consensus on a number of contentious issues… At G7 also, we have always brought the issues of the Global South to the forefront,” Foreign Secretary Vinay Mohan Kwatra said, according to a report by Economic Times.
Kwatra said, "At this summit, the focus will be on Artificial Intelligence (AI), energy, Africa and the Mediterranean, which will be a block agenda item where the G7 and the outreach countries will share their views and perspectives." Kwatra continued, "PM's participation in the G7 summit would also provide a timely opportunity to follow up outcomes of the G20 Summit held under India's presidency last year and deliberate on issues focused on the Global South." As per a report by the Economic Times.
India's Participation In G7 Summits Over The Years
PM Modi will attend the G7 summit for the fifth year in a row. India chaired the global summit in 2023 and has participated in ten G7 summits.
(L to R) Dr. Manmohan Singh, Former Indian Prime Minister and Angela Merkel Former Chancellor of Germany at the G8 Summit In Germany. | AFP
In 2005, Dr. Manmohan Singh, the former prime minister, became the first Indian prime minister to be invited to a global summit to represent India at the G8 summit held in the United Kingdom. During his time as prime minister, Dr. Singh went to over ten global summits.
PM Modi To Attend Bilateral Meeting With PM Meloni
It is anticipated that the Prime Minister will also have a private discussion with Giorgia Meloni, his Italian counterpart. In December 2023, in Abu Dhabi, the two prime ministers had their first meeting at the COP28 summit. India-Italy relations were elevated to a strategic partnership with an emphasis on defense, the Indo-Pacific region, energy, science, and technology during her state visit in March 2023.
