New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday accepted US President Donald Trump’s invitation to attend the G-7 summit to be held in the US later this year.
According to the PMO, Modi has accepted the invitation saying that India would be “happy” to work with the US to ensure “success” of the summit.
As President of Group of Seven, Trump wants to expand the grouping to include important countries — Australia, South Korea and Russia besides India.
“Prime Minister Modi commended President Trump for his creative and far-sighted approach, acknowledging the fact that such an expanded forum would be in keeping with the emerging realities of the post-Covid world. The prime minister said that India would be happy to work with the US and other countries to ensure the success of the proposed summit,” said the press release.
Modi and Trump spoke on the phone on Tuesday where they discussed key issues such as the situation at the India-China border and the need for reforms in the WHO.
On the India-China border stand-off, the Ministry of External Affair spokesperson Anurag Srivastava has said: “India-China border issue would be resolved bilaterally through dialogue.”
PM Modi conveyed his “concern” over the ongoing violent protests across the US over the death of George Floyd.
While India has accepted Trump’s proposal on G7, Russia has rejected the idea of ‘isolating’ China. A Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson commented, “The idea of an expanded G7 summit is, in general, a step in the right direction, but does not really mean a true representation. For instance, it is obvious that it is hardly possible to implement serious global initiatives without China.”
