Perspective: PM to Attend G7 Summit

• 20 Jun 2024

For Prelims: 50th G7 Summit, Artificial Intelligence, Climate change, Global Supply chain, War in Ukraine Middle East region, PGII (Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment), India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC), Energy, Africa Mediterranean inclusive society, India-Italy, strategic partnership , India- Japan, Indo-Pacific, India-Ukraine, Crimea region of Ukraine, G-20 summit, Security, Food Security Global South Rule of Law, Democracy, Food , African Union, G-20, Vasudhaiv Kutumbakam.

For Mains: International Relations and India’s Strategic Interests Associated with G-7.

Why in News?

Recently, the 50^th G7 Summit was held in Italy and the Indian Prime Minister attended the summit as an outreach country. 

• Agenda of G-7 Summit 2024 were Artificial Intelligence, Climate change, Global Supply chain, war in Ukraine and the Middle East region.
• PM   also addressed the outreach session of the Summit in Apulia region where he called for ending monopoly in technology .

What are Key Highlights of 50th G-7 Summit?

• Mains Initiatives:
  • In this Summit, leaders decided to promote concrete G7 PGII (Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment) initiatives.
  • Under this, G7 will mobilise USD 600 billion by 2027 to deliver infrastructure projects to developing and middle-income countries.
  • G-7 nations committed to promoting the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC).
  • G7 also extended support for the Lobito Corridor in Central Africa and Luzon Corridor and the Middle Corridor.
    • Lobito Corridor: It extends from the port city of Lobito on the Atlantic coast of Angola through the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and into Zambia.
    • Luzon Corridor: It is a strategic economic and infrastructure corridor located on the island of Luzon in the Philippines. Luzon is the largest and most populous island in the Philippines.
    • Middle Corridor: It is also referred to as the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route (TITR), a vital logistics and transportation network connecting Europe and Asia.
  • The G7 leaders commit to step up efforts to enhance interoperability amongst their AI governance approaches to promote greater certainty, transparency and accountability.
• Outreach Session:
  • Host country Italy invited 11 countries including India in the outreach session of G7. 
  • Outreach session of G-7 summit focused on Artificial Intelligence and Energy, Africa and the Mediterranean region.
  • India addressed the outreach session of the Summit and called for ending monopoly in technology and that it should be used for benefits of inclusive society.
  • PM   emphasised on  AI for all that is Artificial Intelligence (AI) should be used for the progress and prosperity of all mankind.
  • India also held bilateral talks with Italy, Japan, Ukraine, UK, France, Egypt, Turkey and UAE on the sidelines of the G7 Summit.

Which Bilateral Dialogues Took Place on the Sideline of G7 Summit?

• India-Italy

  • India held bilateral talks with Italy about  progress of bilateral strategic partnership and agreed to strengthen cooperation in global fora and multilateral initiatives.

• India- Japan:

  • India and Japan held bilateral talks in which India emphasised on the importance of India-Japan ties for the Indo-Pacific. 
  • Both countries agreed to strengthen Business to Business (B2B) and People to People (P2P) cooperation.
• India-Ukraine:
  • In India-Ukraine bilateral talks both sides agreed to strengthen bilateral cooperation and discussed the war situation in Ukraine and efforts to hold peace talks.

What is G7?

• G-7 is a group of the most developed and advanced economies of the world. I.e. France, Germany, Italy, the United Kingdom, Japan, the United States, and Canada.
• The origin of G-7 can be traced back to the Oil Crisis of 1973 and the resulting financial crisis, which forced the leaders of 6 major industrial nations to convene a meeting in 1975. 
• Canada joined in 1976, leading to the formation of the G7.
• It was known as the ‘G8’ for several years after the original seven were joined by Russia in 1997, but it was renamed as G7 after Russia was expelled as a member in 2014 following its annexation of the Crimea region of Ukraine.

Which Kind of Opportunities are Available for India at This Summit?

• India as Strategic Pivot:
  • India is strategic pivot in global coperation due to facts that it is most populous country, largest democracy, one of the largest markets and 5th largest global economy and is ahead of 4 out of G-7 economies France, Italy, UK and Canada. 
• India as Voice of Global South:
  • India has also emerged as the voice of the global south in recent yeras specially after successfully hosting the G-20 summit in 2023.
  • India can raise common issues of the global south like climate change, energy security, food security etc at these platforms.
  • India can play an important role in fostering cooperation on development of African region, African Developmental agenda.
• Economic Opportunities:
  • India and the global south is also an investment destination for rich G-7 member countries. India is a stable economy for investment with a safe and secure political climate.
• India as Largest Democracy:
  • India is a supporter of rule of law, freedom and democracy that finds an important place in G-7 objectives.
• Addressing Global Challenges: 
  • Global solidarity on global challenges like climate change, cyber security  and Artificial Intelligence (AI).

What are the Challenges Associated with G7?

• Elite Men's Club-
  • G-7  is seen as a group of developed nations whose priorities are different from developing countries.
  • G-7 members need to address concerns of developing countries by coperation with them.
• Subtle Shift of Power:
  • In 2008, while the G-8 talked about food inflation and all kinds of other admittedly important world issues, they completely missed the 2008 global financial crisis.
  • With the inclusion of the African Union in the G20 group in 2023 relevance of G-20 group has increased as compared to G7 in resolving global issues.
• Expansion of G-7:
  • Expanding the G-7 by inclusion of countries like India seems a distant goal as India is a developing country and is behind other countries in the grouping in terms of per capita income.
• Informal Group:
  • The G-7 is an informal bloc and takes no mandatory decisions, so the group’s declarations at the end of the summit are not binding.

Way Forward

• Diplomacy and Dialogue:
  • India can act as a bridge between developed and developing countries as it has shown a sense of moderation and a sense of responsibility.
• Symbolic and Substantive Significance for India:
  • India’s presence at the G7 summit has symbolic and substantive significance as India is a strategic partner of most of the G7 countries.
• Regional and Global Issues:
  • Global platforms provide an opportunity to showcase India's unique approach and perspective to global issues with the approach of Vasudhaiv Kutumbakam.
• Reforming G-7 Approach:
  • It has been recognised that, G-7 being seen as a group of elite countries, global issues can not be resolved within G7 itself so, there is a need to reform the approach to address global issues.

Artificial Intelligence (AI):

• About:
  
  • AI is defined as the ability of machines and systems to acquire and apply knowledge and to carry out intelligent behaviour.
    • The term "Artificial Intelligence" was coined by John McCarthy, an American computer scientist and cognitive scientist. He was one of the founders of the discipline of AI.
  • It includes technologies like machine learning, Deep Learning, Big Data, Neural Networks, Computer vision, Large Language Models etc.
  • The ideal characteristic of artificial intelligence is its ability to rationalize and take actions that have the best chance of achieving a specific goal.
• India's Initiatives Related to Artificial Intelligence:

  • INDIAai.

  • Global Partnership on Artificial Intelligence (GPAI).

  • US India Artificial Intelligence Initiative.

  • Responsible Artificial Intelligence (AI) for Youth.

  • Artificial Intelligence Research, Analytics and Knowledge Assimilation Platform.

  • Artificial Intelligence Mission.

UPSC Civil Services Examination, Previous Year Questions (PYQs)

Prelims

Q. In which one of the following groups are all the four countries members of G20? (2020)

(a) Argentina, Mexico, South Africa and Turkey

(b) Australia, Canada, Malaysia and New Zealand

(c) Brazil, Iran, Saudi Arabia and Vietnam

(d) Indonesia, Japan, Singapore and South Korea

Ans: (a)