 "Prime Minister Narendra Modi has a number of global events to attend as he begins his third term in office. AP")
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to travel to the G7 Summit in Italy on Thursday.
The G7 summit, to which Modi is an invitee, is being held in the luxury resort of Borgo Egnazia in Italy’s Apulia region from 13 to 15 June.
It will likely to be dominated by the raging war in Ukraine and the conflict in Gaza.
On Sunday, Modi was sworn-in as prime minister for a third time – equalling the record of Jawaharlal Nehru.
Along with Modi, senior BJP leaders including Rajnath Singh, Amit Shah, Nitin Gadkari, Nirmala Sitharaman and S Jaishankar took oath as Cabinet ministers at the Rashtrapati Bhavan.
But what do we know about Modi’s global outreach as he begins his third term?
Let’s take a closer look:
G7 Summit (13-15 June)
According to Economic Times, Modi will be in Italy for 24 hours.
Italy’s prime minister Giorgia Meloni invited Modi to the summit in April.
The G7 is an informal grouping that includes Italy, Canada, France, Germany, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
The European Union, which is represented by the president of the European Council and the president of the European Commission, also participates.
US president Joe Biden, France’s Emmanuel Macron, Japan’s Fumio Kishida and Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau will be among the top leaders attending the summit.
Impact Shorts
More ShortsModi could meet Biden as well as Kishida, Macron and Rishi Sunak on the summit’s sidelines.
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy is also scheduled for a session on the Russian invasion of his country.
“We have always maintained that dialogue and diplomacy is the best option to resolve it,” Kwatra said when asked about the Ukraine conflict.
Foreign Secretary Vinay Kwatra said on Wednesday that PM Modi’s participation in the G7 summit would provide an opportunity to follow up on outcomes of the G20 summit held under India’s presidency last year.
The foreign secretary added that India’s regular participation in the G7 summit points to increasing recognition of New Delhi’s efforts to address global challenges.
Swiss Peace Summit (15-16 June)
The Ukraine peace summit is set to take place this weekend at the famous Burgenstock resort near Lucerne.
Zelenskyy suggested the location for the summit – the aim of which is to gather support for Ukraine’s 10-point peace plan which calls for Russia to completely withdraw its troops from Ukraine and for Moscow to be held accountable for war crimes.
Over 90 countries and organisations have said they will participate in the summit.
Kwatra said India will participate in the peace summit in Switzerland at an ‘appropriate level.’
Kwatra did not specify who will represent India at the summit.
SCO Summit (3-4 July)
Modi will head to Kazakhstan for the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Summit.
The meet is being held on 3 and 4 July.
According to Economic Times, Modi might meet China’s president Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the summit for a structured meeting.
India earlier in 2024 participated in the SCO Foreign Ministers and Defence Ministers meetings.
India was represented by MEA secretary (ER) Dammu Ravi at the former, while defence secretary Giridhar Aramane attended the latter.
The SCO was founded in Shanghai in June 2001.
It is an intergovernmental organisation that mainly addresses regional security issues, including the fight against terrorism, ethnic separatism, and religious extremism.
BRICS summit in Russia (October)
Modi is expected to meet Russian president Vladimir Putin on the sidelines of the BRICS summit in Kazan, as per Economic Times.
BRICS is an intergovernmental organisation comprising 10 nations, including Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa.
In 2023, four nations — Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates—became full members of BRICS.
Other engagements
According to Economic Times, Modi may also visit New York in September for the UN General Assembly and Summit of Future.
He will also attend the BIMSTEC meet in Thailand in September and G20 summit in Brazil in November.
Modi is also likely to travel to Japan later this year for an annual summit.
A trip to Africa is also in the offing.
Modi may also participate in the India-Asean summit and East Asia summit slated to be held in Laos.
Modi will likely meet several leaders on the sidelines of the various summits in Europe, Kazakhstan, Russia and Brazil.
India is also expected to host leaders from the immediate and extended neighbourhood besides Europe, Africa and Latin America including Chile.
A Quad summit in India is also on the books, as per Economic Times.
US NSA Jake Sullivan to visit India
US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan will likely visit India on 17 June.
The top Biden administration official will hold wide-ranging talks with NSA Ajit Doval, primarily focusing on cooperation under the US-India Initiative on Critical and Emerging Technologies (iCET).
This will be the first trip to India by a senior American official after the Modi government came to power for the third term.
According to Business Standard, the US previously cancelled two previous visits by Sullivan at the last minute.
This came in view of the US administration’s focus on the evolving situation in West Asia arising out of the Israel-Hamas conflict.
A key aspect of Indo-US engagement has been collaboration in specific high-technology areas including semiconductors, next-generation telecommunication, artificial intelligence and defence under the iCET initiative.
In the talks, the two sides are also expected to review ongoing defence cooperation including an ambitious plan between US defence giant GE Aerospace and India’s Hindustan Aeronautics (HAL) to produce the advanced F414 jet engines for the Indian Air Force (IAF).
Biden congratulated Prime Minister Narendra Modi on his third consecutive win in the general elections. The two leaders also discussed Sullivan’s upcoming visit.
During Sullivan’s visit, the two sides are also expected to deliberate on the ambitious India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC).
There has been a delay in implementation of the mega project in view of the current situation in West Asia.
Billed as a pathbreaking initiative, the IMEC envisages a vast road, railroad and shipping networks among Saudi Arabia, India, the United States and Europe with an aim to ensure integration among Asia, Middle East and West.
The IMEC also envisages to include an electricity cable network, a hydrogen pipeline, high-speed data cable network to facilitate overall economic growth in the partner countries.
The India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor is also seen as an initiative by like-minded nations to gain strategic influence in the face of China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) that has faced increasing criticism over lack of transparency and disregard for sovereignty of the nations.
The BRI is a mega connectivity project that connects China with Southeast Asia, Central Asia, Russia and Europe.
The IMEC initiative was firmed up on the sidelines of the G20 Summit in Delhi in September last year.
An agreement was signed by India, Saudi Arabia, the European Union, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), the US and some other G20 partners for the corridor.
With inputs from agencies