Modi's presence in G7 summit to improve synergy with G20, says Japan envoy to India

Japanese ambassador to India Hiroshi Suzuki on Thursday (18) said Tokyo believes prime minister Narendra Modi's participating in the upcoming G7 summit in Hiroshima will give shape to synergy between the G7 and G20 processes, especially to address issues related to the Global South.

The summit will take place between Friday (19) and Sunday (21).

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India, which is currently holding presidency of the G20 grouping, is among eight nations that have been invited to take part in outreach sessions of the summit of the grouping that includes advanced economies such as Japan, Canada, Germany, US, UK, Italy and France.

In an interview, Suzuki said Modi can speak "with legitimacy" for the developing nations after having heard concerns of several of them during the Voice of Global South Summit held in New Delhi in January, India's Hindustan Times newspaper reported.

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"We would be very grateful if prime minister Modi can share his vision of how [he is] going to set the G20 agenda based on the outcome of the G7 Summit, because that way we [can] have more synergy,” the diplomat was quoted as saying.

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Japanese prime minister Fumio Kishida, who invited Modi to the G7 summit during his visit to India in March, believes, according to Suzuki, close coordination between G20 and G7 is "critically important" to cement unity in an increasingly polarised world to tackle challenges faced by the developing nations, including growing food and energy prices, energy security, climate change and health, among others.

“These are all important challenges and saying we have sympathy towards the Global South, we need to collaborate with the Global South – words alone cannot deliver. We need concrete action and that’s what Prime Minister Kishida hopes to move forward,” Suzuki said.

Modi will also visit Papua New Guinea and Australia following the G7 summit in Japan where a meeting between him and his Japanese counterpart on the sidelines will be an opportunity to assess progress in the two Asian nations' bilateral relations since Kishida's visit to New Delhi.