New Delhi. Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday left for a six-day visit to Japan, Papua New Guinea and Australia where he will attend some multilateral summits including G-7, Quad grouping.
The Prime Minister is expected to attend over 40 events during the visit during which he will interact with over two dozen world leaders at summits, including bilateral meetings. The six-day three-nation tour But in a statement before his departure, Prime Minister Modi said he looked forward to exchanging views with the G7 countries and other invited partners on the challenges facing the world and the need to address them collectively.
“I will also hold bilateral meetings with some of the leaders who will be attending the Hiroshima G7 summit,” he said. On the morning of May 19, Prime Minister Modi left for the Japanese city of Hiroshima for the first leg of his visit, where he will visit the world’s developed countries. A group of countries with economies of scale will participate in the annual summit of the G-7. Prime Minister Modi is going there at the invitation of Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida. Japan, as the current chair of the G-7 group, is hosting its summit and India has been invited as the guest country.
Foreign Secretary Vinay Kwatra told reporters here on Thursday that the meeting of the G-7 group would discuss several topics related to priorities, including increasing connectivity, security, nuclear disarmament, economic security, regional issues, climate change, food and health. Apart from development, issues such as digitization, science and technology are included. He informed that India will participate in three formal sessions, of which the first two sessions will be held on May 20 and the third session will be held on May 21. The topics of the first two sessions- Food and health and gender equality and climate change and the environment. At the same time, topics like peaceful, sustainable and progressive world have been included in the third session.
Kwatra told that a meeting of the leaders of the Quad group is likely to be held in Hiroshima, Japan this week in which Prime Minister Narendra Modi, US President Joe Biden, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese will participate. The proposed Quad countries summit in Sydney has been canceled after Biden postponed his trip to Australia to address the economic crisis.PM Modi with the Prime Minister of Japan and leaders of some other countries on the sidelines of the G-7 summit Will also hold bilateral talks. Prime Minister Modi’s bilateral talks with Prime Minister Kishida of Japan will discuss other topics including economic matters.
In Hiroshima, PM Modi will also unveil a bust of Mahatma Gandhi. PM Modi will travel from Japan to Port Moresby, where he will hold the Forum for India-Pacific Islands Co-operation with James Marpe, Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea, on 22 May. (FIPIC) will jointly host the 3rd Summit. This will be the first visit by an Indian Prime Minister to Papua New Guinea. Established in 2014, FIPIC comprises India and 14 Pacific island countries – Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Tonga, Tuvalu, Kiribati, Samoa, Vanuatu, Niue, Federated States of Micronesia, Republic of Marshall Islands, Cook Islands, Palau , Nauru and the Solomon Islands.
In Moresby, Prime Minister Modi will also hold bilateral talks with the leadership of Papua New Guinea. Also, he is also scheduled to meet Fiji’s Prime Minister Robuka. Prime Minister Modi said that he will travel from Japan to Port Moresby in Papua New Guinea. The Prime Minister said, “I am grateful that all 14 Pacific Island Countries (PICs) have accepted the invitation to participate in this important summit. FIPIC was initiated during my visit to Fiji in 2014. I look forward to engaging with PIC leaders on issues that bring us together, such as climate change and sustainable development, capacity building and training, health and wellness, infrastructure and economic growth.”
In the third and final leg of his visit, the Prime Minister will visit Sydney from 22 to 24 May. During his visit to Australia, Modi will hold a bilateral meeting with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on May 24. Prime Minister Modi will interact with CEOs of Australian companies and prominent businessmen at a community event in Sydney on May 23 and will also address members of the Indian community. Modi said the meeting with Albanese was “to take stock of our bilateral relations and It will be an opportunity to ‘see the impact’ of the first India-Australia Annual Summit held in New Delhi in March.
“I will interact with Australian CEOs and top business leaders and also interact with members of the Indian community at a special event in Sydney,” he said. Will further strengthen relations.
Inputs From: Amrit Vichar
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