PM Meets Zelensky, Macron At G7, Will Hold Talks With Pope, Meloni

The summit is being held at the luxurious Borgo Egnazia resort in Italy’s Apulia region. India has been invited to the G7 Summit as an Outreach country and this is PM Modi’s first overseas visit since he took oath as Prime Minister for the third straight term.The Prime Minister has held bilateral meetings with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, French President Emmanuel Macron and UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak. He will hold talks with several other leaders, including the Pope and Italian PM Giorgia Meloni. PM Modi had also met Mr Zelenskyy on the sidelines of the previous G7 summit in Hiroshima in May last year.”Friday is a packed day for him (PM Modi). We have several bilateral meetings with world leaders lined up. He will also be addressing the Outreach session of the G7 Summit,” External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said in a video message.”Taking Strategic Partnership to new levels! PM @narendramodi met President @EmmanuelMacron of France on the sidelines of the 50th G7 Summit in Apulia, Italy,” Mr Jaiswal posted on X after the PM’s meeting with Macron.”The two leaders discussed ways to further strengthen the partnership including in areas of defence, nuclear, space, education, climate action, digital public infrastructure, critical technologies, connectivity and culture. They also exchanged views on key global and regional issues,” he added.Day one of the summit was dominated by the Russia-Ukraine conflict as the leaders agreed on a US proposal to back a $ 50-billion loan to Kyiv utilising frozen Russian assets, described by US President Joe Biden as a “significant outcome” and a strong message to Russian President Vladimir Putin.In his departure statement, PM Modi said he was “glad” that his first foreign visit in his third term as Prime Minister was to Italy for the G7 Summit. “I warmly recall my visit to Italy for the G20 Summit in 2021. Prime Minister Meloni’s two visits to India last year were instrumental in infusing momentum and depth in our bilateral agenda. We remain committed to consolidate the India-Italy strategic partnership, and bolster cooperation in the Indo-Pacific and the Mediterranean regions,” his statement said.In her opening address at the meeting of the G7 leaders, Ms Meloni said southern Italy was chosen as the venue to send a strong message to the Global South. “It is no coincidence that we are hosting the summit in Apulia. We did this because Apulia is a region of southern Italy and the message we want to launch is that the G7, under the Italian presidency, wishes to strengthen its dialogue with the nations of the Global South,” she said.Italy is India’s fourth-largest trading partner in the European Union, with bilateral trade worth $15 billion.