Leaders of the Group of Seven (G7) wealthy nations have pledged more than 1 billion Covid-19 vaccine doses to poorer nations and vowed to help developing countries grow their economies in fighting climate change. At the 44th G7 Summit, leaders agreed to challenge China’s non-market economic practices and call out Beijing for rights abuses in Xinjiang and Hong Kong.
Speaking at the G7 Summit 2021, Prime Minister Narendra Modi today said that 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.
Here are the key highlights from the 44th G7 Summit:
- As chair of G7, the UK invited India, Australia, South Korea, South Africa to the summit as guest countries.
- At a session on ‘open societies and open economies’ at the G7 summit, PM Modi virtually addressed the gathering and highlighted India’s civilizational commitment to democracy, freedom of thought, and liberty, according to the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) additional secretary (economic relations) P Harish.
- Modi also highlighted the revolutionary impact of digital technologies on social inclusion and empowerment in India through applications such as Aadhaar, Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT), and JAM (Jan Dhan-Aadhaar- Mobile) trinity.
- The MEA added that 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 in a reference to the coronavirus pandemic.
- Speaking at the G7 leaders’ summit in southwest England, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson praised the fantastic degree of harmony among the re-energized group, which met in person for the first time in two years.
- The G7 leaders expressed that international cooperation is back after the upheavals caused by the pandemic and the unpredictability of former US President Donald Trump. They wanted to convey that the club of wealthy democracies Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States is a better friend to poorer nations than authoritarian rivals such as China, Johnson said.
- The UK PM said the G-7 would demonstrate the value of democracy and human rights to the rest of the world and help the world’s poorest countries to develop themselves in a way that is clean and green and sustainable.
- The G-7 also backed a minimum tax of at least 15% on large multinational companies to stop corporations from using tax havens to avoid taxes, championed by the United States and dovetails with the aim of President Joe Biden to focus the summit on ways the democracies can support a fairer global economy by working together.
- The leaders also said they will promote their values by calling on China to respect human rights and fundamental freedoms in Xinjiang, where Beijing is accused of committing serious human rights abuses against the Uyghur minority, and in the semi-autonomous city of Hong Kong.
- China hit back saying that the days when global decisions were dictated by a “small group” of countries are long gone, hitting back at the G-7 summit where Beijing was at the center of severe criticism over the COVID-19 origins, human rights violations, and its mega Belt and Road Initiative.
With PTI inputs
