New Delhi [India], May 20 (ANI): Prime Minister Narendra Modi is energetically engaged with key major powers of the world and the G7 Summit in Hiroshima that provides New Delhi's pursuit of actively seeking a seat at a restructured global high table.
As part of a three-nation trip to Japan, Papua New Guinea and Australia, Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived at the Japanese city of Hiroshima on May 19 to attend the annual summit of the G7 grouping and the third in-person Quad leaders' meeting during which he exchanged views with world leaders on global challenges and discussed ways to collectively address them.
India has been a regular guest of the G7 and Japan, which is hosting the G7 this year and has invited India as the guest country.
Japan believes Prime Minister Narendra Modi's participation in the G7 Summit will build synergy between the G7 and G20 processes, especially to address the issues of the Global South.
In his departure statement, PM Modi said, "I look forward to exchanging views with the G7 countries and other invited partners on challenges that the world faces and the need to collectively address them. I would also be holding bilateral meetings with some of the leaders attending the Hiroshima G7 Summit."At the G7 Summit in Hiroshima, he had spelt out a 10-point action plan at a session on 'Working Together to Address Multiple Crises.' In order to address challenges pertaining to healthcare, food security and wellness, PM Modi stressed the importance of "working together for the betterment of the planet".
Building upon India's sustained proactive engagement at the Summit, PM Modi held talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, along with French President Emmanuel Macron, Indonesia President Joko Widodo, his Japanese counterpart Fumio Kishida, South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, and Vietnam's PM Pham Minh Chinh.
He also met UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and even shared hugs with US President Joe Biden and British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak. PM Modi also unveiled a bust of Mahatma Gandhi at Hiroshima.
While attending the Quad Summit, PM Modi said that the security and the success of the Indo-Pacific are important not just for the region, but for the whole world. "We are moving forward with a constructive agenda based on shared democratic values. The Indo-Pacific region is the engine for global trade, innovation and development."On the bilateral front, the G7 Summit and engagement dialogues are very important. The bilateral summit with Japan on the occasion of this G7 Summit tends to be limited in terms of time allowed, but Prime Minister Kishida, when he visited Delhi in March, at the top of his agenda was this G7-G20 collaboration.
PM Modi understands the instrumental utility of the Global South argument in its pursuit of India's own power and status. India is huge, with more than 1.3 billion people, and on track to become the world's third-largest economy, with the largest and most diverse democracy. If China can use the Global South argument for its geopolitical ends, India can definitely do so too.
Courted by great powers, PM Modi has cleverly used the failure of the post-war world order today to India's advantage. PM Modi's argument at the G-20 Foreign Ministers meeting that "global governance has failed" is to drive home precisely that point.
The worry about an aggressively rising China has further prompted global leaders to look for geopolitical alternatives in the Indo-Pacific region. Contemporary Indian foreign policy is a textbook example of treading the fault lines of world politics and, as External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar writes in his book, The India Way, "advancing national interests by identifying and exploiting opportunities created by global contradictions".
Furthermore, despite sustained Western pressure, India has refused to criticise Russia, a time-tested strategic partner. Under PM Modi's guidance, India is energetically engaged with key major powers of the world.
The sustained and variegated engagement with established and emerging power centres are opening new vistas for upgrading these crucial partnerships and will seal India's stature as a rising global power which is central to sculpting an inclusive global order.
The Prime Minister's interactions at the G7 are also especially significant given that, this year India is chairperson of the G-20 and the SCO. Once the tenure ends Beijing will not let New Delhi take over the leadership of the Global South so easily.
It is important for New Delhi to use this crucial year to strengthen strategic partnerships, seek geopolitical concessions, and create structures that enhance India's national security. (ANI)
