The 50th edition of the G-7 summit organised in Italy concluded on Saturday. Not much has come out of this conference. Prime Minister Narendra Modi also attended the conference at the invitation of Italy after the new NDA government was formed. The Prime Minister elaborated on the importance of ending monopolies in technology, with special emphasis on artificial intelligence. Modi said that India is one of the first countries to create a national strategy on artificial intelligence. On the occasion of this conference, Modi also met US President Joe Biden, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, French President Emmanuel Macron, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, Pope Francis and the Prime Minister of Japan, Fumio Kishida.
India is not included in the G-7 nations but Italy invited leaders of 11 developing countries from Africa, South America and the Indo-Pacific region, along with India, to participate in the summit. Obviously, due to the changed political scenario in India and formation of the new government and the new challenges facing India in terms of foreign policies, Narendra Modi considered it important to attend this conference. The meeting with French President Macron was Modi’s first official bilateral meeting with an international leader after assuming office for the third time as Prime Minister. But overall, there are voices of criticism from international political experts regarding the outcome of this G-7 conference. It has been seen from this conference that there is no unanimity regarding many issues among the main seven nations of this conference. The conference agreed to give a loan of 50 billion dollars to Ukraine (Ukraine has frozen assets of Russia) to fight the war by taking a tough stance against Russia regarding the Russia-Ukraine war that has been going on for the last two and a half years. But on the other hand, no strict stand was taken at this conference regarding the role of Israel in the Gaza Strip, where more than 37,000 Palestinians have been killed in the last eight months.
The International Court of Justice is currently investigating the genocide case filed by South Africa against Israel. Canada and France insisted on a strict stance regarding Israel’s actions in Gaza, but America and Germany have refused to take a stand against Israel. This shows how many differences there are among these G-7 nations. It was necessary to come out of this conference with a firm position that both these wars, which actually affect the entire world and may lead the world to a third World War, should be stopped immediately. The conference, however, saw European allies move closer to the US on how to deal with growing global economic competition from China. In an unprecedented development this week, the European Union imposed taxes up to 50 percent on Chinese electric vehicles, marking a major shift in its trade policy. The US did the same in May. Basically, the G-7 countries are currently suffering from their own internal problems. French President Emmanuel Macron’s party called last week’s European Union parliamentary election a ‘snap election’. In Germany, after Chancellor Olaf Scholtz’s Social Democratic Party also suffered a similar blow in the European Union election, critics urged it to follow Macron’s example. British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is already heading to the polls in early July for an election that could see Labour win and topple his government. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s approval rating has dropped to 38 percent. And in Japan, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s party has been mired in a political crisis since last year. Above all, there are chances of Donald Trump’s return to the United States presidential election in November.
At one point, the G-7 accounted for 70 percent of global gross domestic product (GDP), but has now it has dropped to 40 percent. Moreover, this group represents only one-tenth of the world’s population. On the one hand, global governance is changing rapidly, while on the other hand, other global groups like BRICS which also include India, Russia and China are growing. Overall, the international importance of G-7 seems to be decreasing day by day. The G-7 is an organisation consisting of the United States, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom (UK) and the European Union. The nations of this organization come together every year to discuss global economic governance, international security and many other issues. Russia was a member of the forum from 1998 to 2014, when the group was known as the G-8. But as soon as Russia invaded Ukraine for the first time in 2014, Russia was suspended, while the European Union joined the group in 1981. It is represented by the President of the European Council. In all, India is also facing several major international challenges due to changing geo-political situations.
