Prime Minister Narendra Modi is in Germany to attend the G7 (Group of Seven) summit at Schloss Elmau, a centuries-old retreat in the south of Germany, close to the Austrian border. Modi will hold bilateral meetings with world leaders at the two-day summit, which started on Sunday. He is likely to speak at two sessions on issues concerning the environment, food security, health, gender equality, and democracy.
What is the G7?
The G7 is an informal forum bringing together the leaders of the world’s leading industrial nations – the United States (US), the United Kingdom (UK), Canada, France, Germany, Italy, and Japan.
We stay united, we stay together. This is our clear message to President Putin. Good to have you here at the @G7 Summit, @POTUS Joe Biden. pic.twitter.com/xvzJm7DnHU
— Bundeskanzler Olaf Scholz (@Bundeskanzler) June 26, 2022
It was formed in 1975, as the world suffered from the first oil shock and financial crisis. Six leading industrial countries met for the first time to discuss the global economy. The first meeting was an initiative of then-French president Valéry Giscard d’Estaing and the German chancellor Helmut Schmidt and was held in Chateau de Rambouillet, 50 kilometres south-west of Paris.
Canada joined in 1976 and Russia in 1998, it was then called the Group of Eight. But following the annexation of Crimea, the G7 nations decided to meet without Russia in March 2014, suspending its membership.
The European Union (EU) has participated in the G7 since 1981 as a “non-enumerated” member, represented by presidents of the European Council.
Each year, a member country takes on a year-long presidency and hosts the summit. This year, it is Germany’s turn.
If India is not a member, how is it at the G7 summit?
The host nation invites non-members to participate in the summit as partner countries.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has invited India to the 2022 meet. Other nations which have been invited are Argentina, Indonesia, Senegal, and South Africa. Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy will take part virtually on 27 June.
Several international organisations, including the United Nations, the World Health Organization, the World Trade Organization, the International Monetary Fund, and the World Bank are also participating in the summit.
How often has India been invited to the summit?
Since Narendra Modi became the prime minister in 2014, this is the third time he will be a participant. Last year, Modi was invited by UK prime minister Boris Johnson to the Cornwall Summit, where India’s participated virtually.
India was invited by the G7 French presidency in 2019 to the Biarritz Summit as a “Goodwill Partner” and the prime minister participated in the sessions on climate and biodiversity, and digital transformation.
During Manmohan Singh’s tenure, India attended the summit – then G8 – five times.
Why has India been invited?
Germany’s invitation to G7 Summit is seen as yet another step in maintaining the tradition of a close partnership between India and Germany.
India has become a regular invitee at the G7 summits as there is no doubt that the country needs to be part of any sustained effort to solve the challenges being faced by the world, senior government officials told News18.
“As an active participant in many other divergent, plurilateral groupings like the Quad, I2U2, and BRICS, the Summit will further establish the indispensability of India in any noticeable North, South, or North-South platforms when it comes to searching for solutions and their implementation,” the official told News18.
According to India’s foreign secretary Vinay Mohan Kwatra, our regular participation at the G7 summits points to “increasing acceptance and recognition that India needs to be a part of any and every sustained effort to find solutions to solve global challenges”.
US National Security Council coordinator John Kirby had said ahead of the meeting that India had been invited because the agenda is “deep and diverse” and “it is not about trying to splinter them off” from Russia, reports news agency ANI.
“It is not about trying to splinter them off or coax them away from any other association or partnership that they might have with another country. That’s not the goal here. The goal is to unify around a set of common principles and initiatives,” Kirby said adding that, “G7 wants to advance in terms of climate change, energy and food security”.
What’s the agenda of the summit?
“Progress towards an equitable world” is the goal of the German G7 presidency.
The five major areas of discussion will be strong alliances for a sustainable planet, economic stability and transformation, improving global health architecture, sustainable investments, and strong togetherness.
The German government under Scholz plans to get the G7 to commit to collective progress on curbing global warming, and one of the ideas being discussed is the creation of a climate club for countries which want to speed ahead in tackling the issue, reports the Associated Press.
The G7 wants to make the world a better offer on infrastructure investment. Today, we are re-launching our joint work as “Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment" - @Bundeskanzler at a side event of the G7 Summit. #G7GER pic.twitter.com/PqTEOdsRfI
— G7 GER (@G7) June 26, 2022
With rising inflation and shortages of food, the food crisis will be discussed at the summit. A session will be held to discuss ways to make a “clean and just transition to climate neutrality”. The countries will also brainstorm on ways to secure energy supplies and control the global soaring fuel prices.
With Zelenskyy joining the summit virtually, the Russia-Ukraine war which has now entered its fifth month will be up for deliberations. The US said that the G7 nations will ban the import of Russian gold.
“Together, the G7 will announce that we will ban the import of Russian gold, a major export that rakes in tens of billions of dollars for Russia,” US president Joe Biden said on Sunday.
On the first day of the summit, the leaders of the G7 countries also discussed plans to cap the price of Russian oil to further pressure Moscow.
With Ukraine saying that the West is not doing enough to punish Russia, G7 leaders were having “really constructive” talks on a possible price cap on Russian oil, a German government source was quoted as saying by the Reuters news agency.
What is on India’s agenda?
PM Modi will hold bilateral meetings with leaders of some of the G7 countries on the sidelines of the summit.
Reviewed the full range of the India-Argentina friendship during the very productive meeting with President @alferdez in Munich. Stronger cooperation between our nations will greatly benefit our people. pic.twitter.com/bBe32Wg850
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) June 26, 2022
"I will be exchanging views with the G7 countries, G7 partner countries and guest international organisations on topical issues such as the environment, energy, climate, food security, health, counter-terrorism, gender equality and democracy. I look forward to meeting leaders of some of the participating G7 and guest countries on the sidelines of the Summit,” the prime minister said in an official statement.
With inputs from agencies
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from Explained: The G7 summit in Germany and the significance of Narendra Modi’s presence at it
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