Modi to travel to Italy on June 13 for G-7 outreach meet

Just four days after being sworn in for a third term, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will travel to the Apulia region in Italy on Thursday to attend the G-7 outreach meet.

Mr. Modi will meet Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, Foreign Secretary Vinay Kwatra announced at a briefing on Wednesday, but declined to comment on specific questions on which other leaders he would hold bilateral meetings with.

Apart from leaders of other G-7 countries — Canada, France, Germany, Japan, the U.K., and the U.S., — and the European Union leadership, Mr. Modi will be among leaders of 12 countries invited to the outreach on Friday, including Algeria, Argentina, Brazil, Egypt, Kenya, Mauritania, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Tunisia, Turkiye, and the UAE.. All eyes will be on a possible meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy who is also expected to be present.

The event would give Mr. Modi the opportunity to meet a host of leaders to discuss his plans for his new term in office, even as many of the leaders like U.S. President Joe Biden and British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak face elections in the next few months, while countries like Italy, Germany, and France witnessed the European Parliament elections on Sunday.

Special session

This is the 11th time that India has been invited to the G-7 outreach, and the fifth that Mr. Modi will attend. He will take part in a special session for discussions on artificial intelligence, energy, Africa, and the “Mediterranean”, Mr. Kwatra said indicating that the Russia-Ukraine conflict and Israel’s war in Gaza will also be on the agenda.

“India’s regular participation at the G-7 summit clearly points to increasing recognition and contribution of the efforts India has been consistently making in trying to resolve global challenges, including those of peace, security, development, and environmental preservation,” Mr. Kwatra told journalists.

Peace summit

While most of the G-7 leadership with the exception of Mr. Biden will travel directly from Apulia’s Borgo Egnazia luxury resort to the Swiss town of Burgenstock for a peace conference on Ukraine, India is yet to announce the level of its participation at the conference. Despite a number of appeals and visits by Swiss and Ukrainian Ministers requesting Mr. Modi to attend or depute a Minister, sources have indicated that India would participate at an “official but not political level”.

“India will be participating at the Peace summit in Switzerland on the [June] 15th,” Mr. Kwatra said when asked for a response. “That consideration is currently going on in the system and as and when we have a decision on the representative from India who would be participating, we would be happy to share that with you,” he added.

Meet with Trudeau

Any interaction between Mr. Modi and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau would also be closely watched, given the tense ties between the two countries over Mr. Trudeau’s allegation that “Indian government agents” were behind the killing of Khalistani separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Canada last June. 

The Khalistan issue has already sparked a controversy after a statue of Mahatma Gandhi, due to be inaugurated in the town of Brindisi not far from the G-7 venue, was defaced with graffiti hailing Nijjar.

Mr. Kwatra called the vandalisation of the statue “deplorable”. While he said that Italian authorities had “rectified” the situation, he took aim at Canada for continuing to support Khalistani activism.

“The main issue with regard to Canada continues to be the political space that Canada provides to anti-India elements who advocate extremism and violence. And we have repeatedly conveyed our deep concerns to them and expect them to take action,” Mr. Kwatra said, but declined to comment on whether a meeting was being scheduled between Mr. Modi and Mr. Trudeau, who last held an explosive meeting on the sidelines of the G-20 summit in Delhi, exchanging words over the Nijjar issue.