Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday said India is a “natural ally” for the Group of Seven (G7) countries in defending the shared values from a host of threats stemming from authoritarianism, terrorism and violent extremism, disinformation and economic coercion.
On the second day of the outreach sessions of the G7 summit, the PM highlighted India’s civilisational commitment to democracy, freedom of thought and liberty. He also highlighted the revolutionary impact of digital technologies on social inclusion and empowerment in India through application such as Aadhaar, Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) and JAM (Jan Dhan-Aadhaar-Mobile) trinity.
PM Modi underscored the vulnerabilities inherent in open societies and called on tech companies and social media platforms to ensure a safe cyber environment for their users, Additional Secretary (economic relations) in the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) P. Harish said at a press conference. “The prime minister’s views were appreciated by other leaders in the gathering,” he said.
Elaborating on PM Modi’s engagement, Harish informed that his participation in the Summit was based on three broad tracks—global health vaccines and recovery from Covid-19, environmental and climate change and open societies and open economies. The Prime Minister also spoke on the need for open and democratic societies to work together and strengthen each other’s hands to defend the values that they hold dear and respond to increasing challenges.
The senior MEA official said the G7 leaders underlined their commitment to a free, open and a rules-based Indo-Pacific and resolved to collaborate with partners in the region. He said that there was widespread support at the G7 deliberations for text-based negotiations on a proposal by India and South Africa for patent waiver on Covid vaccines.
In the session on climate change, PM Modi highlighted that “the planet’s atmosphere, biodiversity and oceans cannot be protected by countries acting in silos, and called for collective action on climate change”.
Speaking about India’s unwavering commitment to climate action, PM Modi mentioned the commitment by Indian Railways to achieve Net Zero Emissions by 2030. He stressed that India is the only G-20 country on track to meet its Paris commitments.
“Prime Minister stressed that developing countries need better access to climate finance, and called for a holistic approach towards climate change that covers all dimensions of the problem- mitigation, adaptation, technology transfer, climate financing, equity, climate justice and lifestyle change,” the statement said.
“Prime Minister’s message of global solidarity and unity, especially between open and democratic societies and economies, in tackling the global challenges of health, climate change and economic recovery was well received by the Leaders at the Summit,” it added.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi attended the Outreach Sessions of the G7 Summit virtually from India. He had been invited to participate in the 47th G7 Summit by Boris Johnson, Prime Minister of the UK, which is currently holding the Presidency of the G7. WITH AGENCY INPUTS