Prime Minister Narendra Modi returned home on 15 June 2024 after his first official foreign visit after being sworn in as the Prime Minister of India for the third successive term. He was on a one-day visit to Italy to attend the Group of Seven (G7) Outreach session held in Borgo Egnazia, Apulia, Italy, on 14 June 2024.

Fifth G7 Outreach Session Meeting for PM Modi

Prime Minister Narendra Modi was invited by Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni to participate in the Outreach session on Artificial Intelligence, Energy, Africa, and the Mediterranean.

This was the fifth time, 2019,2021,2022,2023 and 2024, that Narendra Modi had attended the G7 Outreach session.

He has equalled the record of former Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh, who has also attended the G7 outreach session five times.

The first Indian Prime Minister to get an invitation to participate in the G7 Outreach session was Atal Bihari Vajpayee in 2003.

PM Modi Meets World Leaders

During his visit to Italy, PM Modi met various global leaders. He held a discussion with Italian counterpart Giorgia Meloni, French President Emmanuel Macron, Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and the United Kingdom Prime Minister Rishi Sunak,

During his interaction with world leaders, Prime Minister Modi emphasised a shared commitment with them to create impactful solutions that benefit the global community and create a better world for future generations.

50th G7 Summit Meeting in Italy

The 50th G7 meeting was hosted by Italy in Apulia from 13 to 15 June 2024. The meeting was attended by the leaders of the member countries of the G7. The meeting was attended by Joe Biden, President of the United States, President of France Emmanuel Macron, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of Canada, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak of the United Kingdom, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Prime Minister of Japan Fumio Kishida and the host Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.

Other Non-members to be Invited

The G7 host country has the right to invite other countries or multilateral institutions to participate in an outreach session where a particular issue or a host of global and regional issues are discussed.

This time, Italy invited Algeria, Argentina, Brazil, India, Jordan, Kenya, Mauritania, Tunisia, Türkiye and the United Arab Emirates. It also invited the heads of the African Development Bank, the International Monetary Fund, the Organisation of Economic Co-operation and Development, the United Nations and the World Bank.

Support to Ukraine

At the G7 summit meeting, the member countries supported Ukraine in its fight against the Russian invasion.

During the summit, American President Joe Biden signed a10 10-year security agreement with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. The United States will provide modern arms and ammunition to Ukraine, but it will not help Ukraine in its war with Russia by sending American troops to Ukraine.

The G7 countries also agreed to provide a $ 50 billion loan to Ukraine using interest from Russian assets frozen after Moscow’s invasion.

What is G7?

The G7 is an informal group of the seven most industrialised democratic countries.

It was created on the initiative of France after the Arab countries increased crude petroleum oil prices after the Arab-Israeli war of 1973.

The first summit meeting took place in France in 1975.

The next 51st summit meeting will be held in Kananaskis, Alberta, Canada, in 2025.