Prime Minister Narendra Modi will attend the two-day G7 Summit in France's Biarritz, starting Monday, August 26, on a special invitation by French President Emmanuel Macron.
PM Modi will be participating in two sessions - Climate, biodiversity and oceans and another on Digital Transformation. He will also be holding several bilateral meetings with other leaders on the sidelines.
The Ministry of External Affairs hailed the special invitation as "reflection of the personal chemistry" between the two countries and "recognition of India as a major economic power".
The G7 countries include the seven largest International Monetary Fund (IMF)-described advanced economies in the world: Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United States and the United Kingdom.
However, India's participation in the global summit will strengthen its goal of conducting sideline talks on trade and bilateral issues. It will also enhance international support from other countries for the ongoing Indo-Pak tensions related to the Indian government's decision to abrogate the special status of Jammu and Kashmir under Article 370 of the constitution.
The PM met UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on the sidelines of the G7 summit on Sunday and held "fruitful discussions" on the Kashmir issue. The UN chief expressed concerns over the issue and called for "maximum restraint". He also welcomed India's participation in the UN's Climate Action Summit and other issues of mutual interest.
Modi congratulated British PM Boris Johnson and held a 30-minute sideline meeting where he discussed strengthening India-UK bilateral cooperation in trade and economic relations.
He also discussed the recent violent attacks by a mob outside the Indian High Commission in London. The British PM regretted the incident and assured the safety of the Indian mission. Johnson also said that Kashmir is a bilateral issue between India and Pakistan.
Earlier, US President Donald Trump, while repeatedly offering to mediate between India and Pakistan, had said that he will discuss the "explosive" situation in Kashmir in order to ease tensions between the neighbouring countries at the G7 summit.
He added that the US-India trade issues, such as the easing tariff on US products and strategic partnership, are also likely to be discussed.
The US Official brief on President's Trump's agenda ahead of the summit said, "President Trump is very much looking forward to his meeting with Indian Prime Minister Modi, where they will discuss the strategic partnership and how they can cooperate more closely on issues like defence cooperation, counterterrorism, and trade."
The brief added that the US believes Kashmir is a bilateral issue and India's move regarding 370 is an internal matter with regional implications that needs to de-escalate.
The US President, last week, urged India to exercise utmost restraint and called Pakistan to stop cross-border terrorist infiltration into the Kashmir valley.
Prime Minister Modi will hold bilateral meetings with Chile and Senegal during the G7 summit. The two countries were also given special invitations.
The Indian Prime Minister is also expected to meet his French counterpart Edouard Philippe and interact with the Indian community.
