On the first foreign trip of his third term, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is in Italy, attending the summit of the Group of Seven (G7) countries: Italy, Canada, France, Germany, Japan, the United Kingdom, the United States. The trip assumes significance as a re-elected Modi, albeit with a reduced mandate, will interact with leaders of the West most of whom are facing elections amid global turmoil with Russia and China at the centre of dominant issues. The Western world wants India by its side. Given the increasing economic heft of the country, India cannot be outside the major policy issues confronting the West. It will be India's 11th participation in the G7 Summit and PM Modi's fifth consecutive participation at the G7 Summit.
Modi at G7: What's on agenda?
PM Modi will participate in the G7 Outreach Summit. "During the discussions at the Outreach session, the focus would be on artificial intelligence, energy, Africa, and the Mediterranean. It will be an opportunity to bring greater synergy between the outcomes of the G20 Summit held under India’s Presidency and the forthcoming G7 Summit, and deliberate on issues which are crucial for the Global South," PM Modi said in a statement.
PM Modi will hold bilateral talks with major world leaders. India's strengthening ties with Italy, as Italian PM Giorgia Meloni emerges as a major world leader, will be in focus. "Prime Minister Meloni's two visits to India last year were instrumental in infusing momentum and depth in our bilateral agenda. We remain committed to consolidate the India-Italy strategic partnership, and bolster cooperation in the Indo-Pacific and the Mediterranean regions," PM Modi said. In an important gesture and an indicator of India's centrality to the G7, Italian PM Meloni greeted several heads of government with a ‘namaste’. Among other bilaterals, the most significant will be with US President Joe Biden. PM Modi has already held bilateral discussions with the UK PM Rishi Sunak and French President Emmanuel Macron on the sidelines. PM Modi will also hold bilateral meetings with Japanese PM Fumio Kishida, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Italian PM Giorgia Meloni. He is also likely to talk to Pope Francis who will address the outreach session.
Why G7 needs Modi
Under PM Modi, India has been a regular invitee to the G7 meets in the past few years. India's increasing economic heft puts it at the centre of major global issues while its robust democracy, which has been underlined by the recent elections, makes it an important partner for the West. India is set to become the fourth largest economy in the world soon, overtaking Japan, which will make India's economy bigger than all the G7 countries except the US and Germany.
After the G20 Summit in Delhi last year, India is trying to emerge as the leader of the global south, a position which has gained significance amid debates on climate change. In a symbolic gesture, Meloni decided to host the summit in the Apulia region in southern Italy, indicating a commitment to engage with the Global South. "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," said Foreign Secretary Vinay Kwatra. "As you are also aware, India has so far organized two sessions of the Voice of the Global South Summit, which have been aimed at bringing the interests, priorities, and concerns of the Global South on the global stage. At G7 also, we have always brought the issues of the Global South to the forefront."
When the West is trying to contain China economically as well as geopolitically, India's importance grows because it is seen as a counter to China. India stands to gain majorly from G7 countries trying to shift their economic ties away from China to friendly countries. G7 leaders have called out China for "dangerous" incursions in the South China Sea, amid fears of escalation in the contested Asia Pacific region, according to a draft summit statement seen by AFP. The G7 leader also criticized China's "harmful" industrial overcapacity, according to the draft statement seen by AFP, amid rising trade tensions between Beijing and the West. "We express our concerns about China's persistent industrial targeting and comprehensive non-market policies and practices that are leading to global spillovers, market distortions and harmful overcapacity in a growing range of sectors," they said in the document.
When the West is ranged against Russia after its invasion of Ukraine, India stands as a neutral country. The increasing Western concerns over China's strengthening ties with Russia and possible military cooperation make India a key Western ally despite its neutrality. PM Modi has met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on the sidelines of the G7 Summit.
Meeting Biden, avoiding Trudeau
PM Modi is likely to meet US President Joe Biden on the sidelines of the G7 Summit . This is the first time the leaders will meet after their bilateral talks over dinner at Modi’s residence in Delhi, on the eve of the G20 summit India hosted last year in September. While a formal bilateral meeting isn’t ruled out in Italy, it’s possible that the leaders might just have a pull-aside because of scheduling constraints.
The meeting with Biden might not have the same bonhomie witnessed during Modi's state visit to the US last year. US NSA Jake Sullivan has said that the foiled murder-for-hire plot against Khalistan separatist and US national Gurpatwant Singh Pannun will be “a continuing topic of dialogue between the US and India, including at very senior levels”. Diplomatic sources did not rule out the possibility of the issue coming up in the Modi-Biden meeting.
There was no meeting scheduled between Canadian PM Justin Trudeau and PM Modi. The ties between India and Canada have remained tense. A recent exchange on X, in which Trudeau greeted Modi after the election results and Modi replied to him, indicated no thaw in India-Canada relations.
However, PM Modi and Trudeau are set to come face to face at the G7 summit, Modi might take up the separatists issue. The government has reiterated that India’s main issue with Canada remained the political space given to anti-India elements who advocate violence and extremism.
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