• Prime Minister Narendra Modi returned to India after attending the G7 summit in Italy, where he engaged with global leaders on various topics, notably climate change and artificial intelligence (AI). 

• India, along with 11 other countries and five international organisations, was invited by Italy to participate in the G7 Summit’s outreach session. 

• Prime Minister Modi highlighted India’s stance on energy, emphasizing four core principles: availability, accessibility, affordability, and acceptability.

Key takeaways of G7 Summit:

1) Abortion Left Out of the G7 Statement: The G7 summit statement released did not mention abortion, highlighting a disagreement among leaders. 

• Italy’s Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, who hosted the summit and her allies, were divided on this issue.

• Last year, during their summit in Japan, G7 leaders had committed to addressing access to safe and legal abortion. However, this commitment was excluded from this year’s final statement in Puglia, reportedly due to Prime Minister Meloni’s stance.

• The United States and France opposed PM Meloni’s efforts to dilute the language concerning women’s rights, especially given her stance against abortion.

• Instead, the statement affirmed previous commitments made in the Hiroshima leaders’ communique to ensure universal access to adequate, affordable, and high-quality health services for women. This includes comprehensive sexual and reproductive health and rights for all.

2) $50 Billion Loan Plan for Ukraine: During their initial day of discussions in southern Italy, the G7 nations reached an initial agreement to provide Ukraine with $50 billion in loans. 

• These loans would be backed by the interest accrued from frozen Russian assets. 

• The G7 leaders hailed this agreement as a robust demonstration of Western resolve.

• In their official summit declaration, the G7 leaders stated their commitment to imposing further sanctions on Russia in response to its invasion of Ukraine.

3) Crackdown on Migration: The G7 leaders discussed immigration during their meetings, a significant concern for Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, who aims to reduce illegal migration from Africa. She has initiated a major plan to enhance development in Africa to address the root causes of migration.

• They agreed to establish a coalition to combat people smuggling, focusing on increased cooperation in investigating trafficking networks and seizing their assets.

• UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak highlighted that this G7 summit marked the first time migration was a central topic, describing it as a positive step forward.

4) Vows Action Against China’s Business Practices: The G7 leaders pledged to address what they termed as harmful business practices conducted by China.

• Specifically, the G7 nations focused on China’s economic influence, highlighting concerns about unfair market practices in sectors such as electric vehicles, steel, and renewable energy.

• Their summit statement clarified that the G7’s objective was not to undermine China or impede its economic growth. Instead, they emphasized their commitment to taking measures to protect their own businesses from unfair practices, promote fair competition, and rectify ongoing economic harms.

• Additionally, the G7 leaders warned of potential actions against Chinese financial institutions that facilitated Russia’s acquisition of weapons amid its conflict with Ukraine.

What is Group of Seven (G7)?

• The G7 comprises the UK, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States. 

• It is the group of top seven developed economies. 

• The Group was established as a platform for economic and financial cooperation in response to the 1973 energy crisis. 

• The first Summit of Heads of State and government was held in 1975 in Rambouillet, France. It included France, the United States of America, the United Kingdom, Germany, Japan, and Italy.

• In 1976, with the admission of Canada, the G7 took its current configuration. Since 1977, representatives of the European Economic Community, now the European Union, also participate in the work of the Group. 

• The European Union is a ‘non-enumerated’ member and does not assume the rotating G7 presidency. 

• The G7 expanded into the G8 between 1997 and 2013, with the inclusion of Russia. 

• Russia was expelled from the G8 in 2014, after Moscow annexed the Crimea region from Ukraine. 

• The role as host, also known as the G7 presidency, rotates annually among member countries in the following order: France, United States, United Kingdom, Germany, Japan, Italy and Canada. 

• The combined gross domestic product of G7 countries is about $40 trillion — a little less than half of the global economy.

• The annual G7 summits have over the years developed into a platform for determining the course of multilateral discourse and shaping political responses to global challenges. 

• It complements the role of the G20, which is widely regarded as the framework for ongoing global economic coordination.

• It is capable of setting the global agenda, because decisions taken by these major economic powers have a real impact. The political direction set by these leaders on a policy issue will have a “ripple” effect across many other international organisations and institutions.

• Thus, decisions taken at the G7 are not legally binding, but exert strong political influence.

(The author is a trainer for Civil Services aspirants.)