From May 19 to 21, Japan hosted the G7 Summit 2023, in Hiroshima, the city where Prime Minister Fumio Kishida was born. Participants included the presidents and prime ministers of France, Canada, Italy, USA, Germany, and UK.
G7 Summit History
Leading industrialised countries had collectively formed the informal Group of Seven (G7). During their first meeting in 1975, this G7 group had sought to address the Oil crisis. France, Canada, Japan, Italy, the United States, Germany, and the United Kingdom are among its members.
G7 Summit Opening
Kishida welcomed the visiting leaders and officials to the opening event on Friday morning. Subsequently, at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park, they placed wreaths in memory of the thousands of people who perished when the United States detonated an atomic bomb named ‘Little Boy’, on the city in 1945.
– Image flickr.com
G7 Summit Emphasis on Ongoing War Risks As Hot Agenda
Around midday, discussions are scheduled to begin with a focus on how to respond to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. At some point over the weekend, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is expected to address the G7 summit leaders by video.
“Iran must never develop a nuclear weapon,” states a G7 preliminary statement.
A draft of the G7 leaders’ communiqué obtained by Reuters states that they “remain deeply concerned” about Iran. More recently Iran has exhibited an escalation of its nuclear programme.
Finally, On Sunday 21st May 2023, the communique’s final draft is anticipated to be made public.
G7 Summit Additional Agenda Brief
All the leaders will have the opportunity to work together at this summit in Hiroshima. They will address global crises like climate change, the global energy crisis, and Russia’s ongoing war in Ukraine.
Cook Islands Prime Minister Mark Brown, urged China and the United States to avoid escalating their “adversarial competition” in the Indo-Pacific area.This is in view of the current movements, as both countries ramp up their efforts to gain sway.
Mark, who was invited to represent the region at the G7 conference in Hiroshima opined,. He said, Additional superpower interest in the Pacific is good, but it cannot come at any cost.
G7 Summit Members Action Against Russia
The wealthy industrial democracies of the G7 have once more urged Russia to remove all of its soldiers from Ukraine.
In order to “starve Russia of G7 technology, industrial equipment, and services that support its war machine,” leaders of the Group of Seven nations agreed on imposing sanctions.
In an effort to limit Moscow’s capacity to fund the conflict in Ukraine, Britain has launched fresh sanctions against Russia that target imports of minerals, diamonds, and cutting-edge military technology.
G7 Summit Invitations By Japan to Non-Member Nations
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has extended invitations to Australia, South Korea, Brazil, and India in an effort to foster collaboration between emerging and middle-power nations.
According to a Indian Newspaper daily called ‘Times of India’, Indian authorities are looking into the possibilities of arranging a dialogue between Modi and Zelenskyy outside of the summit.
Bidens G7 Asia Trip Cut Short
Due to ongoing discussions on lifting the US debt ceiling, Biden has called off his trip to Australia for the Quad meeting and instead will return back to Washington.
