Prime Minister Narendra Modi will leave for Italy on Thursday to attend the G7 summit on June 13 and 14. This will be his first overseas trip since assuming his position as prime minister for a record-tying third term.
India has been invited as an outreach country for the summit, which will include the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Germany, Italy, Japan, France and the European Union. Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has invited PM Modi to the summit, which will mark India’s 11th visit and PM Modi’s fifth consecutive visit.
On the sidelines of the summit, Modi is expected to hold bilateral meetings and consultations with G7 leaders, including U.S. President Joe Biden. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said on Wednesday that Biden and Modi “will have an opportunity to meet” on the sidelines of the G7 summit in Italy.
“He (Biden) expects to meet with Prime Minister Modi here. It will be up to the Indian side to formally confirm his attendance but we are hopeful that the two will have the opportunity to meet. Much of the schedule is still in flux so the nature of that meeting is still in flux,” Sullivan told reporters aboard Air Force One on his way to Italy to attend the G7 summit with the US president.
External Affairs Minister Vinay Mohan Kwatra told reporters in New Delhi that Prime Minister Modi would visit Italy on Thursday on his first foreign trip since taking office for a third consecutive term. Ahead of the prime minister’s visit, pro-Khalistani groups in Italy vandalised a statue of Gandhi which had controversial slogans about Hardeep Singh Nijjar inscribed on it. Indian authorities have informed Italian authorities of the incident.
“There is an issue regarding the vandalism of the Mahatma Gandhi statue. I have seen the reports and have enquired with the Italian authorities. My understanding is that appropriate corrective measures have already been taken,” the foreign minister told a press conference.
Kwatra confirmed on Tuesday that Modi would meet Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, but said details of bilateral meetings and meetings with other leaders were still being finalized. Sullivan told reporters aboard Air Force One that Biden had spoken to Modi by phone while in Paris and congratulated him on the election results and on being sworn in as prime minister for a third term.
