India a natural G7 ally: PM at summit

NEW DELHI: India is a natural ally for the G7 and its partners to defend democracy and freedom of thought from challenges arising due to authoritarianism, terrorism, disinformation and economic coercion, Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi said on Sunday.

Modi made the pitch in his virtual address to two outreach sessions on climate crisis and open societies at the G7 summit held in the British seaside resort of Cornwall.

The meet brought together the leaders of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom (UK) and the US, while India, Australia, South Korea and South Africa joined selected sessions as guest countries.

Indian officials said the country’s participation in the meet reflects understanding within the G7 that the resolution of key global crises won’t be possible without India’s engagement, involvement and support.

India will remain engaged with G7 and its partners on major global issues such as access to vaccines, diversification of supply chains, building economic resilience and climate action, they said.

Modi, who was a lead speaker in the outreach session on “open societies and open economies”, highlighted India’s civilisational commitment to democracy, freedom of thought and liberty.

“As the world’s largest democracy, India is a natural ally for the G7 and guest countries to defend these shared values from a host of threats stemming from authoritarianism, terrorism and violent extremism, disinformation and infodemics and economic coercion,” he said.