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India a natural ally of G7, Modi tells grouping

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday said India is a natural ally for the G7 countries in defending the shared values from a host of threats stemming from authoritarianism, terrorism and violent extremism, disinformation and economic coercion.

In a virtual address at a session on ‘open societies and open economies’ at the G7 summit, the Prime Minister highlighted India’s civilisational commitment to democracy, freedom of thought and liberty, according to the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA). The leaders of the world’s advanced economies held a summit in Cornwall in the U.K. from June 11-13. It is for the first time the leaders of the grouping met in person since the coronavirus pandemic began.

PM Modi 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.

In his remarks, the Prime Minister 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 MEA P Harish said at a press conference. “The Prime Minister’s views were appreciated by other leaders in the gathering,” he said.

Harish 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. India’s participation at the G7 sessions reflected understanding within the bloc that resolution to “the biggest global crisis of our time” is not possible without India’s involvement and support, he said, in a reference to the coronavirus pandemic.

Meanwhile, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said the G-7 nations have pledged over 1 billion coronavirus vaccine doses for poorer nations. Speaking at the end of the summit, Johnson said the doses would come both directly and through the international COVAX program.

The commitment falls far short of the 11 billion doses the head of the World Health Organization said is needed to vaccinate at least 70% of the world’s population by mid-2022 and truly end the pandemic.

The Group of Seven (G7) comprises the U.K., Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States. As chair of G7, the U.K. invited India, Australia, South Korea, South Africa to the summit as guest countries.