PM Modi won't be attending G7 Summit in UK in-person due to COVID-19 situation in India

With the prevailing COVID-19 situation in India, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has decided to not attend G7 Summit in person, the Ministry of External Affairs said on Tuesday. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson had extended an invitation to PM Modi to attend the G7 summit, set to be held from June 11-13 in the United Kingdom, as a 'Special Invitee'. While the MEA has said that PM Modi will not attend the summit in person, it is possible that he might mark his virtual presence amongst the G7 member states and representatives of the European Union.  

"While appreciating the invitation to Prime Minister by the UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson to attend the G7 Summit as a Special Invitee, given the prevailing COVID situation, it has been decided that the Prime Minister will not attend the G7 Summit in person," the MEA said in a statement on Tuesday. 

Earlier, Prime Minister Boris Johnson had first postponed his visit to India due to the prevailing COVID situation and subsequent restrictions imposed in UK and then called off his visit due to the lethal second COVID wave in India. The two countries had then held a virtual summit with both the Prime Ministers adopting an "ambitious Roadmap 2030" for elevating India-UK ties to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership. 

British PM invites India, South Korea & Australia

Apart from India, the United Kingdom had extended invite to Australia and South Korea as well, to attend the G7 summit. Increasing the number of member nations to 10, the UK Prime Minister termed the summit as 'D 10' signifying, the top 10 democracies of the world. These include  UK, US, Italy, Germany, France, Japan and Canada. The proposal to expand the 47th G7 summit aimed at countering the expansionist attidue of China and channeling investments into other telecommunication companies within the 10 members seeking an alternative supplier for 5G equipment. 

The COVID-19 pandemic and climate change are expected to be the top-most agendas of the 47th G7 summit. British PM Boris Johnson has pledged to call for the G7 to work on a global approach to pandemics to ensure an equal global distribution of COVID-19 vaccines and to prevent future pandemics including a 5-point plan. International co-ordination on economic policies is also expected to be discussed. 

India-UK Virtual Summit

On May 5, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his British counterpart Boris Johnson held a virtual Summit and discussed how to overcome the pandemic and strengthen the ties between both countries. The leaders also adopted an ambitious Roadmap 2030 for elevating India-UK ties to a 'Comprehensive Strategic Partnership'. This roadmap will pave the way for a deeper and stronger engagement over the next ten years in the key areas of people-to-people contacts, trade, and economy, defence and security, climate action and health.

As per MEA, the two leaders discussed the COVID-19 situation and the ongoing cooperation in the fight against the pandemic, including successful partnership on vaccines. The External Affairs Ministery in a statement said, "PM Modi thanked UK PM Boris Johnson for the prompt medical assistance provided by his country in the wake of the severe second wave of COVID-19 in India." Not only this, Johnson appreciated India's role in extending assistance to the UK and the other countries over the last year, including the supply of pharmaceuticals and vaccines.