G7 Summit: Prime Minister Modi meets Macron, UK’s PM Rishi Sunak, Volodymyr Zelenskyy

PM Modi kicked off his first trip abroad in his third term by heading to Italy for the G7 summit. On Friday, he had meetings with French President Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.

The G7 meeting includes the talk about AI, energy, Africa, and the Mediterranean. Modi said that he is excited to talk with other world leaders. They talked about how to make their countries’ relationship stronger, shared thoughts on worldwide topics, and discussed mutual interests.

PM Modi attended the summit for the fifth time

PM Modi went to the summit for the fifth time. India has been to 10 G7 summits before, and this is the 11th. He also met with leaders from the G7, Outreach Countries, and international organizations.

Modi mentioned working together to tackle global issues. Foreign Secretary Vinay Kwatra shared that India’s regular participation shows its efforts to solve global problems. It is a chance to follow up on the G20 summit from India’s presidency last year.

Meeting with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at G7 Summit

He also had a one-on-one meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who is thought to have updated PM Modi on different parts of the Russia-Ukraine issue.

PM Modi told Zelenskyy that India supports solving the conflict peacefully by talking and using diplomacy.

PM Modi saw the two leaders during the G7 summit in Bari, a sunny town in southern Italy.

PM Modi mentioned that he was happy to meet PM Rishi Sunak in Italy. He repeated his promise to make the India-UK Comprehensive Strategic Partnership even stronger during the NDA Government’s third term. There are many opportunities to enhance connections in areas like semiconductors, technology, and trade. He said that they also discussed strengthening their relationship in the defence sector.

Meeting with President Macron

PM Modi mentioned he met with French President Macron, and it’s their fourth meeting in a year. He said that he had a great meeting with his friend President Emmanuel Macron. PM Modi further shared that this is their fourth meeting in a year, showing how important they consider strong India-French connections

PM Modi said they talked about many things like defence, security, technology, AI, Blue Economy, and more. They also discussed how to inspire young people to be innovative and do research. He wished him good luck for the Paris Olympics starting next month.

This trip is PM Modi’s first overseas visit since starting his third term this month. PM Modi saw Macron last in January when Macron came to India for the 75th Republic Day. 

PM Modi met with PM Rishi Sunak

He met Sunak face-to-face at the G20 Summit in New Delhi last September, where they decided to speed up the FTA discussions with the aim of finalizing them before India’s general election. But now, the trade talks are likely to start again only after a new UK government is chosen on 4 July.

The discussions between India and the UK to make a trade deal began in January 2022. They aim to boost trade between the two countries, which is currently valued at about 38.1 billion pounds per year according to recent official data.

In their recent meeting, PM Modi and President Macron confirmed their joint goals for working together and global collaboration, as described in Horizon 2047 and other papers from the Summit in July 2023.

The Horizon 2047 Roadmap plans out a big and wide-reaching path for the relationship between the two countries until 2047, India’s 100th independence year.

After finishing his talks with Macron and Sunak, PM Modi had a one-on-one meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

PM Narendra Modi met President Zelenskyy Ua of Ukraine at the 50th G7 Summit in Apulia, Italy. They talked about their relationship and shared thoughts on what’s happening in Ukraine. PM said that India supports solving the conflict peacefully through talking and diplomacy, as stated by MEA Spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal. Zelenskyy updated Modi on different parts of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, as per PTI.

PM Modi also saw Zelenskyy at the G7 summit in Hiroshima last year.

India believes that the issues in Ukraine should be settled through talking and diplomacy.