Prime Minister Narendra Modi with Italian counterpart Georgia Meloni. (File photo)
As he embarks on a visit to Italy to attend an Outreach Session at the G7 Summit, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday said the focus would be on artificial intelligence, energy, Africa and the Mediterranean.
Modi said this in a departure statement before heading to the European country on his first foreign trip after becoming prime minister for a third term.
The Prime Minister said issues critical to the Global South will also be discussed during the Outreach Session.
The G7 summit, to be held from June 13 to 15 at the luxury Borgo Egnazia resort in Italy’s Apulia region, is expected to be dominated by the raging war in Ukraine and the conflict in Gaza.
“At the invitation of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, I am traveling to the Apulia region of Italy to participate in the G7 Outreach Summit on June 14,” Modi said.
The Prime Minister said he was pleased that his first visit in the third consecutive term was to Italy for the G-7 summit.
“Discussions during the Outreach Session will focus on Artificial Intelligence, Energy, Africa and the Mediterranean,” Modi said.
“It will be an opportunity to build greater synergy between the outcomes of the G20 Summit held under the Indian Presidency and the upcoming G7 Summit, and to deliberate on issues critical to the South,” said he.
Modi will have a bilateral meeting with Italian Prime Minister Meloni.
“Prime Minister Meloni’s two visits to India last year helped add momentum and depth to our bilateral agenda,” he said.
“We remain committed to consolidating the strategic partnership between India and Italy and strengthening cooperation in the Indo-Pacific and Mediterranean regions,” he said.
The Prime Minister is likely to hold a number of bilateral meetings on the sidelines of the summit. “I also look forward to meeting other leaders participating in the summit,” he said.
The G7 consists of the US, Great Britain, France, Italy, Germany, Canada and Japan.
Italy currently holds the presidency of the G7 (Group of Seven) and is hosting the summit in that capacity.
A key focus of the Italian Presidency has been to defend the rules-based international system.
According to Italy, Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine has undermined its principles and led to increasing instability, with multiple crises unfolding worldwide. The G7 will attach equal importance to the conflict in the Middle East, with its consequences for the global agenda, the report says.
The bloc expanded to include the G8, including Russia, between 1997 and 2013. However, Russia’s participation was suspended in 2014 after the annexation of Crimea.
In line with the grouping’s tradition, representatives of a number of countries and international organizations will be invited to the summit by the host country holding the presidency.
Besides India, Italy has invited leaders from eleven developing countries in Africa, South America and the Indo-Pacific region to attend the summit. Although the European Union is not a member of the G7, it does attend the annual summit.
(Only the headline and image of this report may have been reworked by Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is automatically generated from a syndicated feed.)
First print: June 13, 2024 | 6:50 PM IST