— Joe Biden, PM Modi will have an ‘opportunity’ to meet
— Warm welcome awaits world leader NaMo
— NaMo to play significant role in new world order
— Kyiv can expect to receive a huge new aid package
New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who left for Italy to attend the Group of Seven (G7) Summit being held in Apulia, has a series of bilateral meetings lined up with several world leaders on the sidelines of the event. The G7 leaders are huddling in Italy for a three-day summit dominated by the wars raging in Ukraine and Gaza, in addition to the growing trade and security tensions with China.
PM Modi was set to attend the G7 Summit's Outreach Session at the invitation of Italy's Prime Minister Georgia Meloni. According to reports, he is slated to meet French President Emmanuel Macron, UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky before leaving for Borgo Egnazia for the G7 meeting.
Following the Outreach session — which majorly focuses on artificial intelligence, energy, Africa, and the Mediterranean — PM Modi is expected to hold bilaterals with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Italy's Prime Minister Georgia Meloni, and Japanese PM Fumio Kishida.
While there is a chance of them meeting informally during the official photo-op, there is no scheduled bilateral meeting between PM Modi and Canadian PM Justin Trudeau. Meanwhile, US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan told reporters that US President Joe Biden and PM Modi will have an "opportunity to encounter one another" during the G7 session.
This will be Prime Minister Modi's first overseas visit after assuming office for the third consecutive term, and his fifth consecutive participation in the Summit. It will be for the 11th time that India will be taking part in the G7 Summit.
The Ministry of External Affairs said that India's regular participation at the G7 Summit clearly points to increasing recognition and contribution of the efforts that New Delhi has been consistently making in trying to resolve global challenges, including those of peace, security, development and environment preservation.
This could be Joe Biden's final G7 summit, coming five months before he faces his predecessor and right-wing Republican rival Donald Trump in a tense US presidential contest. Ukraine will be at the top of the agenda of the meeting of the world's advanced industrialised democracies.
Kyiv can expect to receive a huge new aid package from the G7 for its defence against Russia. The leaders are set to agree to finance a loan of $50 billion for Ukraine with interest from frozen Russian state assets. The lion's share of the frozen assets - around 210 billion euros - is within the European Union. The Russian money generates billions in interest income every year.
