G7 Summit: PM Modi exchanges warm hugs with UK PM Rishi Sunak, France's Macron in Italy's Apulia (WATCH)
The Prime Minister has held bilateral meetings with French President Emmanuel Macron and UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak. He will hold talks with several other leaders, including the Pope and Italian PM Giorgia Meloni.
FollowPrime Minister Narendra Modi is attending the G7 Summit in Italy, where he is actively engaging in crucial bilateral meetings with global leaders. On the sidelines of this significant global event, he held key discussions with UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and French President Emmanuel Macron. The summit is being hosted at the luxurious Borgo Egnazia resort in Italy's picturesque Apulia region, with India invited as an Outreach country.
In videos shared on X, PM Modi is seen exchanging warm embraces with both Sunak and Macron, highlighting the cordial relations and camaraderie among the leaders.
According to reports, PM Modi's meeting with UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak focused on bilateral relations and issues of common interest. In his discussions with French President Emmanuel Macron, the conversation centered on strengthening bilateral ties and exchanging views on global issues.
Sunak and Modi last met face-to-face in September of last year, during the G20 Summit in New Delhi, where they decided to quicken the FTA negotiations in the hopes of concluding them before the country's general elections.
But it's now anticipated that trade negotiations won't get up again until July 4, when a new UK administration is chosen. The India-UK FTA negotiations, which opened in January 2022, are aimed at significantly enhancing bilateral trade – currently worth around 38.1 billion pounds a year as per official statistics from earlier this year.
Meanwhile, PM Modi and Macron last met in January when the French President visited India to attend the 75th Republic Day of India.
The two leaders reiterated at their most recent encounter their commitment to the international partnership and bilateral cooperation established in Horizon 2047 and other papers from the July 2023 Summit. Horizon 2047 Roadmap sets an ambitious and broad-ranging course for the bilateral relationship for 2047, the centenary year of India’s independence.
This is the first overseas trip that Prime Minister Modi has taken since taking office for the third time this month.
