Context
At the invitation of UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson, Prime Minister Modi will participate in the Outreach Sessions of the G7 Summit on June 12 and June 13, in virtual format.
About G7
- The G7 (Group of Seven) is an organization of the world's seven largest so-called advanced economies.
- They are Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the UK and the United States.
- Russia joined in 1998, but was excluded in 2014.
- China has never been a member due to low per capita income.
- Representatives from the European Union are usually present while India, South Korea and Australia have also been invited this year.
- The UK is holding the G7 presidency for 2021 so this is where the summit is taking place at the Carbis Bay Hotel near St Ives in Cornwall.
- Ahead of this year's summit, the G7 finance ministers agreed to make multinational companies pay more tax (minimum of 15%).
G7 history
- As the world reeled from the first oil shock and subsequent financial crisis, the heads of state and government of the six leading industrial countries met in 1975 at the Chateau de Rambouillet, France, for the first time to discuss the global economy.
- They were joined in 1976 by Canada and in 1998 by Russia.
- Following the Russian annexation of Crimea, the G7 nations decided in March 2014 to meet without Russia until further notice.
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Agenda of G-7 this year
- The theme for the summit is ‘Build Back Better’ and the UK has outlined four priority areas for its presidency. These are:
- leading the global recovery from coronavirus while strengthening resilience against future pandemics;
- promoting future prosperity by championing free and fair trade;
- tackling climate change and preserving the planet’s biodiversity; and
- Championing shared values and open societies.
What’s in it for India?
- Since 2014, this is the second time PM Modi will be participating in a G7 meeting.
- India had been invited by the G7 French Presidency in 2019 to the Biarritz Summit as a “Goodwill Partner” in the Sessions on ‘Climate, Biodiversity and Oceans’ and ‘Digital Transformation’.
- During Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s UPA rule, India attended the G8 five times.
- India has long called for reforming global institutions and groupings to reflect modern-day geopolitical realities and support the expansion of G7 to G10/G11 as proposed by the former US President Trump.
- As India faces a massive shortage of vaccines, Delhi will be watching the allocation announced by the US President very carefully.
- On Washington’s rapprochement with Moscow, New Delhi will be extremely relieved as the US can then focus on China.
