G7 meet: PM to showcase India as bridge-builder between North & South

Days after creating history by winning a third consecutive term as the Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi arrived at Borgo Egnazia, a secluded luxury resort in the Puglia region, to join the G7 Summit as the leader of the world’s fastest-growing major economy and the most populous democracy.

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The G7 is a familiar turf for PM Modi as he has attended five summits of the world’s wealthiest countries earlier and has developed personal equations with most G7 leaders, including French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholtz. This year’s G7 summit is special as it marks the 50th anniversary of the foundation of G7, a grouping of the world’s richest and most advanced nations.

The overarching focus of PM Modi’s participation in the G7 summit in Italy will be to position India as a bridge-builder between the North and the South in a world polarised by geopolitical rivalries and tribal nationalistic animosities.

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, known to be an ardent admirer of the Indian leader, was one of the first world leaders to congratulate PM Modi after winning the elections on June 4. In this telephonic conversation, the two leaders also briefly discussed synergies on the G7 agenda in Italy, according to senior Indian officials familiar with the conversation. The two leaders will also hold bilateral talks that will focus on scaling up economic and defence ties between India and Italy.

Focus on global South

The G7 summit, to which the leaders of nearly a dozen developing countries have been invited, will be an excellent opportunity to burnish India’s credentials as a leader of the Global South, which was showcased at New Delhi’s successful G20 presidency last year. Many of the key themes of Italy’s G7 presidency such as Africa, Global South and green development link up with important initiatives which were fructified during India’s G20 presidency.