- Friday, April 26, 2024
By: Shubham Ghosh
INDIA’S regular participation at the G7 summits clearly means that the West needs it to confront major challenges that the world is facing, the country’s foreign secretary Vinay Mohan Kwatra said on Friday (24).
The G7 bloc, which includes the world’s seven richest nations, is set to hold its next summit in Alpine Castle of Schloss Elmau in southern Germany on June 26 and 27 amid the current crisis in Ukraine which has fuelled a global food and energy crisis.
Indian prime minister Narendra Modi will take part in the summit.
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“India’s regular participation at the G7 summits clearly points to increasing acceptance and recognition that India needs to be a part of any and every sustained effort to find solutions to solve global challenges,” Kwatra said at a media briefing in New Delhi.
He added that Modi will hold bilateral meetings with the leaders of the bloc and the guest nations on the sidelines of the summit.
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Besides India, other countries that have been invited by the host nation to the event are Argentina, Indonesia, Senegal and South Africa. Germany has invited these nations to recognise the democracies of the global south as its partners, Press Trust of India reported.
Asked whether India would be under pressure from the G7 to restrict its procurement of crude oil from Russia, Kwatra made it clear that sourcing of energy is totally driven by the country’s national interests, adding that consideration is “very well understood”.
“Whatever the trading arrangements that India puts in place with regard to the purchase of crude oil all over the world are determined purely from the consideration of energy security of India and there is no other consideration,” he said.
“I think that consideration is very well understood. I would even say appreciated across the countries. I do not see any point of assuming any pressure on that issue. India has continued its oil trade and purchases from wherever we need to do it,” the foreign secretary added.
Kwatra said it is purely determined, governed and motivated by India’s energy security considerations, noting that it is one of the key aspects in terms of the country’s national economic interests. The Western countries are gradually slashing their energy purchases from Russia following its attack on Ukraine.
Asked about the growing food crisis arising out of the Ukraine war, Kwatra said India has taken a very “proactive” stance to ensure food security of the vulnerable countries.
“I think the Russia-Ukraine situation has generated a certain amount of food security crisis all over the world and as a responsible nation, India has taken a very and proactive stance to ensure that the food security of the vulnerable countries is addressed in a manner that their needs are addressed,” the Indian diplomat said.
