OPINION: G-7 Summit And Beyond

There is little agreement among G-7 leaders on addressing the major issues the world is confronted with today. The leaders, including US President Joe Biden, are not popular enough in their respective countries to assert any meaningful global agenda. They could turn to India's popular Prime Minister Narendra Modi for guidance.

Apparently, the Group of Seven (G-7) summit held in Hiroshima last week attained several important breakthroughs. Going by media reports, the summit centred on two key issues: how to better arm Ukraine for its counter-offensives against Russia and how to checkmate communist China's expansionist designs and militarisation.

Ahead of the summit, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and US President Joe Biden agreed on continuing with the severe sanctions slapped against Russia in the wake of its war on Ukraine in February 2022. They agreed that no unilateral attempt (read China's military expansion and economic coercion) to change the status quo in East Asia would be tolerated.

President Biden and Prime Minister Kishida reiterated the importance of peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait. They also agreed that Japan and South Korea must advance their bilateral relations so as to unitedly work with the United States to advance the cause of peace and development in the world, particularly the Indo-Pacific.

The G-7 summit discussed the issues, including nuclear disarmament, economic resilience and security, climate, energy, food, health, development, digitisation, science and technology. The leaders of the G-7 reiterated their "commitment to provide the financial, humanitarian, military and diplomatic support" to Ukraine. They urged "Russia to stop its ongoing aggression and immediately, completely and unconditionally withdraw its troops and military equipment from" Ukraine.

Observers are, however, not sure how the key agreements arrived at the G-7 would be translated into reality. They say there is little substantial agreement among G-7 leaders on the major problems the world is confronted with. It was the United States that had first dropped the atomic bomb on the city. As such it bears the utmost moral responsibility to denuclearise the world.

In 2016, during his visit to Japan, then US President Barack Obama did talk of Washington's determination toward achieving a "world without nuclear weapons." But the US and allies have taken little concrete action in the matter. Nuclear powers, such as Russia and China, have been using this non-seriousness as a pretext to proceed with their advanced nuclear armament programs.

The observers say the G-7 leaders must take bold decisions to address the world's major problems today. Presently, it may be hard for President Biden and other G-7 leaders to do so. They are not as popular in their own countries as to assert any meaningful global agenda. According to an estimate, no G-7 leader has the support of even a majority in their countries.

Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni of Italy has around a 49 per cent approval rating, US President Biden 42 per cent, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of Canada 39 per cent, Chancellor Olaf Scholz of Germany 34 per cent, Prime Minister of Britain Rishi Sunak 33 per cent, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida of Japan 31 per cent and President Emmanuel Macron of France just 25 per cent.

In contrast, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has a huge 78 per cent approval score at home. The G-7 leaders could turn to Prime Minister Modi for guidance to address the world's major problems. India can be very helpful in guiding the G-7 on nuclear non-proliferation. India is not a member of the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) regime. Yet it has had an impeccable record in exercising a self-imposed nuclear restraint.

India can be helpful to the G-7 in reining in the expansionist designs of communist China. New Delhi shares with the G-7 capitals the same concerns over China's growing militarisation. New Delhi could be helpful to the G-7 also in tackling Moscow. All G-7 countries - the US, the UK, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the EU - have had a tough sanctions diplomacy towards Russia in comparison to India's policy of peace and dialogue in the matter. It has been friendly to both Russia and the G-7.

The observers hope the G-7 leaders are already making use of Prime Minister Modi. They say India has been a special invitee to the G-7 summit since 2019. On the sidelines of the recent G7 Summit in Hiroshima, Prime Minister Modi held bilateral discussions with several leaders of the G7. The latter must have solicited words of wisdom from Prime Minister Modi.

(Jagdish N. Singh is a senior journalist based in New Delhi. He is also Senior Distinguished Fellow at the Gatestone Institute, New York)

Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article are the personal opinions of the author. The facts and opinions appearing in the article do not reflect the views of OneIndia and OneIndia does not assume any responsibility or liability for the same.