India is likely to attend the Group-7 Summit to be held in the western city of Hiroshima (Japan) next year. Diplomatic sources told The Daily Guardian that Japan is planning to invite New Delhi as a guest to the summit of this informal group of seven of the world’s advanced economies, including Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States as well as the European Union. Sources said that the Japanese diplomats are in touch with their Indian counterparts regarding the same.
According to sources, the Japanese government is planning to invite Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his role as the chair of the G-20. “The Japanese officials are discussing it at various levels in Tokyo, and the government of Japan will reach out to India with a formal invitation in due course of time,” sources said. Japan is considering extending an invitation to Indonesian President Joko Widodo as well for his role as the chair of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations next year. The three-day summit will be held in Japan in May next year. Australia is also likely to be invited to the G-7 summit. In fact, Japan wants all the member countries of the Quad group to hold a separate interaction on the sidelines of the G-7 summit. So, the presence of India and Australia will help materialise this plan of the Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, sources said. The US and Japan are already members of the G-7 group. Japan is the chair of the grouping, so it has the right to select the countries for their participation in the summit.
According to sources, Japan is keen to use the occasion to have strategic dialogue with Quad partners US, Australia and India on China›s aggressive agenda on the sidelines of the G-7 summit.
The Quad advocates a vision of a free and open Indo-Pacific. The group is seen as a counter to China›s increasing military and economic clout in the region. Meanwhile, sources also informed that the African Union can also be a guest. PM Modi had met his Japanese counterpart Fumio Kishida in September this year when the Indian premier had gone to Japan to attend the state funeral of former Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe.
PM Modi and Kishida reaffirmed their commitment to further strengthening India-Japan Special Strategic and Global Partnership. Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida is likely to speak to PM Modi telephonically, sources said.