G7 summit: Will highlight priorities of Global South in G-7, says PM Modi

Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrives in Calgary, Canada, to take part in the G7 Summit, on June 17, 2025. Photo: X/@narendramodi

 India will highlight the priorities of the Global South at the G-7 summit in Canada, said Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who reached Calgary on Tuesday (June 17, 2025) to participate in the G-7 Outreach Summit. Besides the summit, Mr. Modi is expected to participate in four bilateral meetings with the leaders of Germany, Canada, Ukraine and Italy.

“Will be meeting various leaders at the summit and sharing my thoughts on important global issues. Will also be emphasising the priorities of the Global South,” said Mr. Modi. In a prelude to his speech at the G-7, the Prime Minister, in his just concluded visit in Cyprus, had conveyed support for a negotiated settlement to the currently escalating Israel-Iran and Russia-Ukraine conflicts. Since the beginning of the Ukraine crisis in February 2022, India has been insisting that the war in Europe has disturbed the economies of the Global South by triggering a commodities crisis.

G7 summit LIVE updates

The conflicts left an early impact on the summit as U.S. President Donald Trump left the event soon after the early interactions without waiting for the outreach summit where the guest leaders were to feature. The departure of the U.S. President took place against the backdrop of reports that the United States was mobilising fire power and refueling platforms for a major operation in the Gulf region.

Before leaving, Mr. Trump, however, added to the atmospherics by supporting the idea that he would rather expand G-7 by including Russia and China and turn it possibly into G-9. The U.S. President said it was a “very big mistake” to remove Russia from the grouping after it annexed Crimea. “I think you wouldn’t have a war right now if you had Russia in, and you wouldn’t have a war right now if Trump were President four years ago,” he said. He argued that exclusion of Russian President Vladimir Putin from the G-7 high table “makes life more complicated”.

Meeting with Zelenskyy

Mr. Modi’s meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will be watched closely as the meeting will be held ahead of the expected visit of President Putin to India for the India-Russia annual summit. Earlier in May, Mr. Putin accepted Mr. Modi’s invite to visit New Delhi for the annual summit. “The Indian leader confirmed his invitation to the Russian President to visit New Delhi for an annual bilateral summit. The invitation was gratefully accepted,” the Kremlin said in a statement in May first week. The Modi-Zelenskyy discussion is likely to add to the context of the India-Russia discussion that will take place during the upcoming India visit of Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.

This year’s G-7 Outreach Summit, being hosted by Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, is themed around three core pillars of “protecting our communities around the world”, “building energy security and accelerating the digital transition” and “securing the partnerships of the future”. 

Published - June 17, 2025 10:28 pm IST