Modi accepts invitation to G7 summit
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has accepted the invitation of his Japanese counterpart, Fumio Kishida, to attend the upcoming G7 summit during their bilateral meeting in New Delhi on Monday.
The summit will be held in Hiroshima, Japan, from May 19 to 21. “I formally invited PM Modi to the G-7 Hiroshima Summit and on the spot my invitation was immediately accepted,” Kishida said at the joint press conference held after the bilateral meeting. Modi also invited him to the G20 summit, which will be held in India in September.
Kishida stated that economic cooperation between Tokyo and New Delhi was growing rapidly. Japan is the fifth largest investor in India, with foreign direct investments worth $38.3 billion between April 2000 and December 2022. More than 1,450 Japanese companies are operating in India and many are housed in special economic zones across the country. Tokyo’s economic push would strengthen New Delhi's ‘Make in India’ policy and global supply chains, Kishida said.
During their meeting, the two prime ministers celebrated 70 years of diplomatic ties between their countries and discussed their ongoing relationship, Indian Foreign Secretary Vinay Mohan Kwatra told the media. This year “promises to be an exciting one,” with India and Japan holding the rotating presidency of G20 and G7, respectively, he added.
The PMs also discussed defense, security, climate action, energy, innovation and skill development. Regional issues of mutual concern such as maritime security in the Indo-Pacific also featured in the dialogue, the Indian foreign secretary said.
Kishida welcomed the renewal of the Memorandum of Cooperation on Japanese language education. Plans are also afoot to prioritize decarbonization, energy and tourism, he said. Modi spoke about the significance of the India-Japan Special Strategic and Global Partnership and how it has nurtured bilateral ties through the years.
The Hiroshima gathering will be the 49th summit of the Group of Seven – the world’s largest developed economies that comprises the US, Canada, Germany, France, the UK, Italy and Japan, as well as the European Union as a “non-enumerated member.” The group was previously known as G8, but Russia’s membership was suspended until further notice after its reunification with Crimea in 2014.
India, Brazil, the Cook Islands, Comoros, Indonesia, South Korea, and Vietnam are participating as special invitees to the summit. Several global organizations such as the International Energy Agency, International Monetary Fund, OECD, the United Nations, World Bank, World Health Organization and World Trade Organization will also be in attendance, represented by their respective heads.
The Hiroshima summit, like the one held last year in the Bavarian Alps in Germany, is expected to center on the ongoing Russia-Ukraine crisis that entered its second year on February 24, China’s growing ambitions in the Indo-Pacific, the revival of the global economy after the Covid-19 pandemic, energy security and climate action.
