G7: Modi reaches Hiroshima, meets Indian diaspora; children elated to meet India PM

Indian prime minister Narendra Modi on Friday (19) met members of the Indian diaspora after arriving in Hiroshima in Japan for the G7 summit. A popular figure with the Indian community overseas, Modi interacted with people and children as he reached the Sheraton Hotel in the Japanese city.

He is set to travel to Papua New Guinea and Australia from Japan.

Modi thanked the Indian diaspora on Twitter for giving him a "memorable welcome". He also tweeted the same in Japanese language.

In a video posted by Asian News International, a young girl could be seen saying about her meeting Modi, "PM Modi met us, and he said he was happy to meet us as well. He then gave us a handshake."

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Another woman in the video said, "Of course, we've been living in the city for 10 years and have been waiting for the prime minister to visit Hiroshima. We are thrilled to welcome the prime minister".

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While Modi has been to Japan in the past, he is the first Indian prime minister after Jawaharlal Nehru to visit Hiroshima, a city that was devastated by an atomic bomb in 1945.

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During the G7 summit for which Japanese prime minister Fumio Kishida personally invited him to Hiroshima during his visit to India in March, Modi is scheduled to meet with a number of world leaders and hold bilateral meetings.

"I look forward to exchanging views with the G7 countries and other invited partners on challenges that the world faces and the need to collectively address them. I will also have bilateral meetings with some of the leaders attending the G7 Summit in Hiroshima," Modi said in his departure statement.

"My presence in this G7 summit is especially significant given India's G20 presidency this year." "I look forward to exchanging perspectives with the G7 countries and other invited partners on global challenges and the need for collective action to address them," he said.

Modi was welcomed by senior Japanese and Indian officials at the airport. At the summit, he is expected to speak on various global challenges, including those related to food and energy security.

While India is not a member of G7 which includes advanced economies such as the US, UK, France, Germany, Canada and Italy besides Japan, its presence at the summit this year is being given weight since it currently the holds presidency of the G20 grouping.