Boris Johnson was disappointed for being unable to welcome PM Modi in person: MEA

The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on Sunday informed that British Prime Minister Boris Johnson was unhappy that he could not invite Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the G7 Summit that took place on Friday. 

While addressing a special briefing, P Harish, Additional Secretary (ER), MEA, said, "PM Modi attended the G7 summit virtually. UK conveyed to us that while PM Boris Johnson was disappointed at not being able to welcome PM Modi in person at the summit. He was understanding & supportive of his decision." 

"India's engagement with G7 and guest countries stands on its own. This is for the first time that India has been engaged in ministerial & working-level tracks as a guest country," he added. 

PM Modi's G7 address

PM Modi on Saturdayvirtually addressed the first Outreach Session of the G7 Summit, and spoke about "One Earth, One Health". During the session, PM Modi highlighted India's ‘whole of society’ approach to fight the pandemic, synergizing the efforts of all levels of the government, industry, and civil society. He also explained India’s successful use of open-source digital tools for contact tracing and vaccine management and conveyed India's willingness to share its experience and expertise with other developing countries. 

Chidambaram Targets PM

Congress MP P Chidambaram on Monday said that India was a COVID-19 outlier as the 'most infected' and 'least vaccinated' state. Terming PM Modi's speech as 'inspiring as well as ironic' he urged the Centre to practice what it preaches. PM Modi addressed the G7 summit virtually during the weekend highlighting India's achievements on climate action, COVID-19 management, resilience against future pandemics.

G7 Summit 2021

The United Kingdon hosted this year’s G7 conference in Cornwall from Friday, June 11 to Sunday, June 13 and welcomed the heads from the United States, United Kingdom, France, Italy, Japan, Canada, and Germany, as well as representatives from the United Nations and European Union. Two guest countries India and South Korea attended the G7 meeting via video-conferencing. Apart from a pledge to supply 1 billion COVID-19 vaccine doses to 20 lower-income nations, with the US pledging close to 500 million, the leaders also discussed issues like regional security, free and fair trade, climate change, values of open society at the discussion table. 

(With Agency Inputs)