G7 Summit 2024: After a successful trip to Italy for the G7 Outreach Summit on Artificial Intelligence, Energy, Africa and the Mediterranean, Prime Minister Narendra Modi took to social media to share highlights of his visit, where he interacted with several world leaders and held bilateral meetings to consolidate India’s close relations with a plethora of global allies.
“An important G7 Summit, where I presented India’s perspective at the world stage,” he said on X. PM Modi was invited to the event by his Italian counterpart Giorgia Meloni, and this is his first foreign trip after winning a record third term at the Indian Parliament.
PM Modi arrived in Apulia, southern Italy, in the early hours of Friday (June 14) to attend the Outreach session of the G7 Summit and hold bilateral talks on a wide range of issues with world leaders on Friday. He addressed the Summit and met the world leaders, including US President Joe Biden, Canadian PM Justin Trudeau, British PM Rishi Sunak and French President Emmanuel Macron.
Growing bonhomie with world leaders
Earlier in the day, PM Modi met French President Emmanuel Macron in Apulia, where the two leaders discussed ways to further strengthen the partnership including in areas of defence, nuclear, space, education, climate action, digital public infrastructure, critical technologies, connectivity and culture. The two leaders last met in January when the French President visited India to attend the 75th Republic Day of India.
He also held a bilateral meeting with British PM Rishi Sunak and talked about the India-UK Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, enhancing industrial cooperation in the defence sector, boosting trade and commerce, and more. The Indian PM also met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, where the latter briefed him on the Russia-Ukraine war and the upcoming peace summit in Switzerland.
After addressing the G7 Outreach Summit, PM Modi met a number of world leaders, holding brief conversations with US President Joe Biden and his Canadian counterpart Justin Trudeau. After his exchanges with Biden, Modi said India and the US will keep working together to further global good. It was not clear what conversation transpired between Modi and Trudeau, amid strained India-Canada ties. He also met other leaders, such as European Parliament chief Ursula von der Leyen, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Jordan’s King Abdullah II and more, showing India’s growing bonhomie with other countries.
Before wrapping up his visit, the PM held a bilateral discussion with Meloni on a wide range of topics, including growing trade and economic collaboration. Marking the bonhomie shared, the leader during the bilateral meeting talked about defence and security cooperation, and people-to-people ties among others. He also held bilateral discussions with his Japanese counterpart Fumio Kishida on the issues of Indo-Pacific, defence, technology and more.
A special meeting with Pope Francis
PM Modi also greeted and shared a hug with Pope Francis ahead of the outreach summit. Francis became the first pope to address the G7 leaders on the dangers posed by Artificial Intelligence. As he arrived with Meloni, the pope went around the table to greet the leaders. PM Modi was seen speaking to his British counterpart Rishi Sunak, and both of them stood up to greet the pope.
PM Modi later expressed admiration for the pope’s commitment to serve people and make the planet better, while extending an invitation to visit India. The Prime Minister met Pope Francis during a private audience at the Apostolic Palace in the Vatican in October 2021. At the time, the two leaders discussed the COVID-19 pandemic and its consequences for people across the world.
PM Modi’s address at the G7 Summit
Addressing the G7 Outreach Summit, PM Modi called for collaborative efforts in the usage of technology to reduce social inequalities and asserted that India is working towards a “human-centric” approach to building a better future. He also underscored the focus given to international governance in the field of AI given by India under its G20 presidency, saying that all countries must work together to ensure that AI remains transparent, fair, secure, accessible and responsible in the future.
Speaking on energy, the PM said, “India’s approach in the field of energy is based on four principles – availability, accessibility, affordability and acceptability. India is the first country to fulfil all the commitments made under COP before time. We are making every effort to fulfill our goal to achieve the target of net zero emissions before 2070.”
He also stressed that the countries of the Global South are bearing the brunt of global uncertainties and tensions. “India has considered it its responsibility to put the priorities and concerns of the countries of the Global South on the world stage. In these efforts, we have given high priority to Africa. We are proud that under India’s presidency, the G-20 made the African Union a permanent member,” he said.
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