The United Kingdom on Sunday invited Prime Minister Narendra Modi to attend the G7 Summit which will be held in June in country’s Cornwell region. The G7 group includes seven of the world’s leading economies namely – UK, Canada, Germany, France, Italy, Japan and the USA, however, apart from these regulars, India, Australia and South Korea have also been invited this year by Boris Johnson.
The three countries have been invited to the summit as guests to "deepen the expertise and experience around the table”, a press statement said.
An official statement issued by the British High Commission in New Delhi said that Prime Minister Johnson will use the G7 presidency to unite leading democracies to help the world build back better from coronavirus and create a greener, fairer and more prosperous future.
"UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson will use the first in-person G7 summit in almost two years to ask leaders, including Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, to seize the opportunity to build back better from coronavirus, uniting to make the future fairer, greener and more prosperous.”
"As 'pharmacy of the world', India already supplies more than 50% of the world's vaccines, and the UK and India have worked closely together throughout the pandemic. Our Prime Ministers speak regularly and Prime Minister Johnson has said he will visit India ahead of the G7". The statement further said while emphasising on the growing cooperation between India and the UK over the fight against the coronavirus.
UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson had earlier cancelled his visit to India as the chief guest on the Republic day due to the discovery of a new COVID19 mutant. The new strain has aggravated a lot more damage to the UK, making the country to go into a full-lockdown once again. However, Johnson is likely to visit the country "ahead of the G7", the press statement read.
"Coronavirus is doubtless the most destructive force we have seen for generations and the greatest test of the modern world order we have experienced. It is only right that we approach the challenge of building back better by uniting with a spirit of openness to create a better future," Boris Johnson as said.
The statement said that Prime Minister Johnson's ambition is to use the G7 to intensify cooperation between the world's democratic and technologically advanced nations. Between them, the 10 leaders represent over 60 per cent of people living in democracies around the world.
Recalling that the UK was the first P5 member to support a permanent UNSC seat for India and the first G7 member to invite India to a G7 summit in 2005, the UK government said that as the current BRICS President and G20 President in 2023, India will play a key role in driving multilateral cooperation around the world.
2021 marks a crucial year of international leadership for the UK. In addition to the G7 summit, during February the UK will assume the Presidency of the UN Security Council and later this year, the UK will host COP26 in Glasgow and a global education conference aimed at getting children in the developing world into school.
