G20 podium
THE Gandhian ideals of peace and harmony reverberate globally and give strength to millions, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said as he unveiled a bust of Mahatma Gandhi in the city of Hiroshima, in Japan.
During his action-packed visit from May 19 to May 21, PM Modi attended the annual summit of the G7 following an invitation from his Japanese counterpart Fumio Kishida.
The G7 includes advanced economies like Japan, the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Canada and Italy, as well as the European Union.
On the sidelines of the G7 summit, the PM also attended the third inperson meeting of the leaders of the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (Quad), representing the US, Japan, India and Australia, and also held productive bilateral talks with world leaders.
Indo-Pacific importance
While the G7 Summit was about uniting the advanced nations to confront the challenges presented by Russia and China and widening the G7 coalition to include key non-Western nations, the Quad leaders mulled the possibility of expanding the security dialogue to rope in others.
World leaders at both the multilateral gatherings agreed with PM Modi’s assertion that “Indo-Pacific region is an ‘engine’ of global trade, innovation and development and its success and security was important for the whole world.”
The key takeaway of India’s stand was that the Ukraine conflict was a global problem that needed immediate humanitarian intervention and an early end to the conflict should be everyone’s priority.
Assurance to Ukraine
In his first in-person meeting since the conflict broke out in February last year, PM Modi assured Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy that India will do “whatever is possible” to find a solution to the conflict
While the G7 leaders see the dangers of Moscow’s aggression against Ukraine, coping with the multidimensional threat from China has become PM Modi’s dominant concern. India sees the Ukraine conflict not merely from the political and economic prism but as a humanitarian issue and PM Modi’s statement that “this is not the era of war” has found global resonance.
That the US needs India to balance China has given the Modi Government some room for manoeuvre on the Russian question.
Talks on supply chains
With the US, Japan and Australia as members of Quad, India is already engaged in discussions about regional and global economic restructuring through the diversification of supply chains and greater technological cooperation among trusted friends and partners.
This was evident from PM Modi’s interactions with US President Joe Biden, Japan PM Kishida and other world leaders in Hiroshima.
The US-China confrontation is no longer a narrow geo-political one, but also geo-economic; and that promises an overhaul of the world economic system. Advancing this agenda is critical for India’s long-term economic prospects. India’s current leadership of the G20 does give it an important role in bridging the divide between the West and the rest.
Rising global clout
PM Modi’s increasingly rising global clout as the leader of the world’s largest democracy was openly acknowledged by US President Biden and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanes. He is scheduled to visit Australia and the US soon. Biden and Albanese reportedly told the Indian PM that they were facing multiple requests from prominent citizens of their countries to attend events where he would be speaking.
