This will be India’s 11 participation at the G7 Summits and the fifth consecutive time that PM Modi will participate
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will travel to Italy on Thursday (June 13, 2024) to attend the G7 Summit on what will be his first visit abroad after taking office as PM for the third successive term. The 50th G7 Summit will be held in Borgo Egnazia in Italy’s Puglia region from June 13-15, 2024.
 
Addressing a special media briefing on Wednesday (June 12, 2024), Foreign Secretary Vinay Kwatra said host Italy had invited India as an outreach country. Prime Minister Modi will participate in the G7 outreach session on June 14, 2024; the session will focus on AI, energy, Africa, and the Mediterranean.
 
This will be India’s 11 participation at the G7 Summits and the fifth consecutive time that Prime Minister Modi will participate in the summits.
 
“India’s regular participation at the G7 clearly points to increasing recognition of India and the contribution of the efforts that India has been consistently making in trying to resolve global challenges, including those of peace, security, development, and preservation,” FS Kwatra said.
 
India’s participation in the G7 Summit acquires particular salience in the context of India’s recent G20 Presidency where the country played a leading role in building consensus on a number of contentious issues, he pointed out, adding that India has also organised two sessions of the Voice of the Global South Summit.
 
The G7 under Italy’s presidency has chosen the key focus areas of the conflict in Russia-Ukraine and the Middle East region with consequences for the global agenda; relationship with developing nations and emerging economies with focus on Africa and the Indo-Pacific region; migration together with climate energy linkages and food security; and AI.
 
According to Foreign Secretary Kwatra, Prime Minister Modi’s participation in the G7 Summit would provide an opportunity for timely follow-up of the outcomes of the G20 Summit under India’s presidency last year and a chance to deliberate on issues that are important to the Global South.
 
The G7 is a bloc of the world’s most industrialised democracies; it comprises the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, and Japan.
 
In addition to India, the current Italian G7 presidency has also invited Algeria, Argentina, Brazil, Egypt, Kenya, Mauritania, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Tunisia, Turkey, UAE, and the UN to the Summit as outreach countries.  
 
The visit will also provide Prime Minister Modi an opportunity to engage with other world leaders on issues of importance to India as well as the Global South, FS Kwatra noted. On the sidelines of the G7 Summit, the Indian Prime Minister will hold bilateral meetings and discussions with leaders of the G7 nations and outreach nations as well as the representatives of several international organisations.
 
These meetings include a bilateral with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.
 
India and Italy decided to elevate their bilateral ties to a Strategic Partnership during talks between Prime Minister Modi and Prime Minister Meloni during the latter's visit to New Delhi on March 2, 2023. They also agreed to begin a new chapter of defence cooperation in a year that marked the 75th anniversary of India-Italy bilateral relations.

The two leaders later met on the sidelines of the G20 Summit in New Delhi on September 9, 2023 where they discussed issues related to trade and commerce as well as defence and emerging technologies. They last met on the sidelines of the COP28 in Dubai in December 2023.