PM leaves for G7; suspense over participation in Swiss peace talks

Sandeep Dikshit

New Delhi, June 13

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday left for Italy on his first foreign visit after assuming the PM’s office for the third time. PM Modi will attend the outreach session of the G7 summit on Friday but there is suspense over whether he will also travel to Switzerland to attend a back-to-back West-sponsored meeting on Ukraine to which Russia has not been invited.

Russia not invited to meeting on ukraine

• A West-sponsored meeting on Ukraine will be held in Switzerland. Russia has not been invited for the crucial meeting
• Since China, South Africa, Brazil and several other nations won’t attend the meeting, all eyes are on India’s participation
• Foreign Secretary Vinay Mohan Kwatra hasn’t said anything about the possibility of PM Narendra Modi’s participation in the meeting

In his pre-departure statement, the Prime Minister noted that the focus on issues like artificial intelligence, energy, Africa, and the Mediterranean at the outreach summit that he will attend, along with other invitees, will enable bring greater synergy between the outcomes of the G20 summit held under India’s presidency and the G7 summit.

On the bilateral side, he felt his visit to Italy for the G20 summit in 2021 and Italian PM Georgi Meloni’s two visits to India last year were instrumental in infusing momentum and depth in the relationship. “We remain committed to consolidating the India-Italy strategic partnership, and bolster cooperation in the Indo-Pacific and the Mediterranean regions,” he observed.

Besides Modi, other leaders attending the G7’s outreach session on Friday are Turkey’s Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Saudi Arabia’s Mohammed bin Salman, Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan from the UAE, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, President of Argentina Javier Milei and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa. The summit, which began with the arrival of G7 leaders, began on Thursday and ended on Saturday.

Also crucial for the South Block is the issue of attending the Switzerland summit on Ukraine which is not being attended by PM Modi’s peers in the developing world, including from China, South Africa and Brazil. Foreign Secretary Vinay Mohan Kwatra, when asked about the possibility of PM Modi travelling to Switzerland after the summit, said an appropriate representation would be sent. The MEA has also not disclosed the PM’s travel plan after the G7 summit where he will reach late on May 13 and stay till May 14.