Opinion | With G7 Summit, PM Modi Begins His Third Innings in Navigating International Politics

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is all set to attend his fifth consecutive G7 Summit which incidentally is also his first trip abroad after becoming prime minister for the record third time. This year, the summit is being organised in Italy as the country is the president of the G7 grouping for the year 2024. G7 is a close club of seven countries which includes four from Europe (France, Germany, Italy and the United Kingdom), besides Canada, Japan and the United States.

It was formed in the 1970s and has since evolved into a premier forum to discuss world issues of major significance. Between 1997 and 2014, it had become G8 with participation from Russia, however, after the annexation of Crimea, it was removed from the grouping. Besides the seven developed countries which are also classified by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) as advanced economies, it also includes the European Union as a non-enumerated member with its high-ranking officials in attendance at the summit which is organised every year.

Although Group of Seven or G7 was envisaged at a time when these respective countries also represented the largest and most powerful economies in the world, with an equally significant geopolitical heft, but today, this is far from true. G7 often comes under criticism for its inability to account for large economies such as China, which is a $17 trillion economy and India.

India at $3.9 trillion today is bigger than at least four G7 economies, with the only exception being Germany, Japan and the US. It is for this reason that every year, G7 also organises an outreach session where some other important countries outside the grouping are also called to discuss agenda items of the session. This year, Italy has invited around 12 countries including Saudi Arabia which is all set to make its first-ever appearance at the forum.

This year’s G7 is taking place at a time when the Western world is grappling with multiple challenges. The Ukraine-Russia War is now in its third year with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in firm attendance for a second consecutive year as well. Meanwhile, the proxy war in the Middle East between Israel and Iran after the October 7 attack on Israeli civilians by Hamas is also raging. Interestingly, despite the geopolitical concerns sobering the mood in the Western world, almost all the leaders have domestic concerns as well at the back of their minds.

US President Joe Biden is going to face a tough re-election bid in November. UK’s Rishi Sunak and France’s Emmanuel Macron are highly unlikely to make it back to power. In the recently concluded European Union parliamentary elections, right-wing and far-right parties have gained a significant edge over the left and liberal parties, which again is a matter of concern. France’s leader Macron has even announced snap polls in the country after getting humbled by his opponent Marine Le Pen, who leads the right-wing, National Rally Party.

Despite several issues perturbing the leaders of the Western world, the agenda for this year’s G7 remains highly packed with the Ukraine conflict finding an obvious place along with the Middle East where a session is dedicated to discussing Israel’s war on Gaza after the Hamas attacks. Key topics of discussion will also include migration and Indo-Pacific. US President Joe Biden is also expected to push for an inclusion of his concerns over China’s industrial overcapacity in the final statement of the G7’s 50th summit. Biden is coming to Italy after imposing fresh tariffs on China on emerging tech items such as EVs, semiconductors and batteries where even the European Union has also imposed duties on Chinese EVs.

Also on the agenda is the so-called Mattei plan of the host country Italy. Giorgia Meloni, Italy’s Prime Minister, remains the only G7 leader who would have a cheerful mood at the summit, boosted by her party’s performance in the EU polls. Meloni is going to unveil the Mattei plan to her G7 partners which proposes Italy as a major energy hub between Europe and African continent. The plan seeks to raise Italy’s development commitment to Africa which will help it tackle its migration problem emanating from that continent.

Although India has been getting regular invites to G7 from 2019, this year, Italy’s invite assumes more significance. PM Meloni is trying to increase Italy’s imprint in Africa through the Mattei plan. It aligns nicely with the foreign policy focus of Italy over what it calls the region of ‘enlarged Mediterranean’. Just right across the Mediterranean Sea from Italy are the vast stretches of African lands. Now what can be a better country than India for Italy in the African outreach?

Outside G7, India has proven its credentials as the quintessential leader from the South by getting the African Union to be a part of the G20 grouping, making it officially as G20+1. It is for this reason that even the outreach session on which India has been invited to speak has Africa, energy and the Mediterranean as key agenda items besides artificial intelligence. PM Modi is also going to attend a bilateral meeting with his counterpart Prime Minister Meloni to discuss future pathways of the India-Italy relationship.

Among all the other meetings and discussions, the one which is being closely watched in India includes a possible meeting between Modi and Canadian PM Justin Trudeau. India’s relations with Canada have hit rock bottom due to the Trudeau government’s appeasement politics of Khalistani terrorists. The cold vibe was unmissable when PM Modi responded to his congratulatory wishes last week after a gap of full four days.

This G7 Summit will be the first time PM Modi will also meet his Western counterparts after a long election and purported attempts by foreign powers to influence Indian elections or criticise its democracy. India under Modi’s leadership has become an almost $4 trillion economy and a formidable voice on the global platform. A visit to the G7 Summit as a tall leader of the Global South is the best way for PM Modi to initiate his third innings in navigating international politics.

The author is a New Delhi-based commentator on geopolitics and foreign policy. She holds a PhD from the Department of International Relations, South Asian University. She tweets @TrulyMonica. The views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely those of the author. They do not necessarily reflect News18’s views.