Prime Minister Modi To fly To Italy To Attend G7 Meet

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is likely to travel to Italy to attend the annual summit of G7 countries.

This will be his first visit to a foreign country after the new government took charge.

G7 is an informal group of seven advanced industrialised economies — the United States, United Kingdom, France, Italy, Germany, Japan, and Canada — that meets annually.

From 1998 to 2014, Russia was also part of this grouping, known then as G8. Russia was removed from the group after its annexation of Crimea.

This year's meeting will be held from 13 to 15 June at the luxury resort of Borgo Egnazia in Italy.

US President Joe Biden, French President Emmanuel Macron, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, and Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky will be in attendance.

Modi is most likely to be accompanied by External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, Foreign Secretary Vinay Kwatra, and others.

The PM is expected to hold various bilateral meetings, including talks with Italian PM Giorgia Meloni.

The Russia-Ukraine war will be the top agenda item of the meeting.

Italy has also invited leaders of 11 developing countries from Africa, South America, and the Indo-Pacific region.