PM is scheduled to hold bilateral meetings with some of the leaders attending the Hiroshima G7 Summit at Hiroshima…reports Asian Lite News
As he leaves for Japan to attend the G7 Summit Hiroshima, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Friday that he looks forward to exchanging views with the member countries and other invited partners on challenges that the world faces and the need to collectively address them.
In a series of tweets before his departure, Modi detailed his programme in Japan, visit to Papua New Guinea and then Australia.
The G7 Summit is being held under the Japanese Presidency and Modi pointed out that it will be a pleasure to meet the Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida again after his recent visit to India for the India–Japan Summit. The PM is also scheduled to hold bilateral meetings with some of the leaders attending the Hiroshima G7 Summit.
“My presence in this G7 Summit is particularly meaningful as India holds the G20 Presidency this year. I look forward to exchanging views with the G7 countries and other invited partners on challenges that the world faces and the need to collectively address them,” he said.
A Quad Summit, earlier scheduled to be held in Australia, is also being planned in Hiroshima with all members of the four-nation grouping trying to make use of their leaders’ presence at the G7 to arrange their own summit on the sidelines.
From Japan, Modi will be visiting Papua New Guinea which will not only be his first visit to the Pacific Island nation but also the first ever by any Indian Prime Minister.
At Port Moresby, PM Modi will host the 3rd Summit of the Forum for India–Pacific Islands Cooperation (FIPIC III Summit) jointly with Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea James Marape on May 22.
“I am grateful that all 14 Pacific Island Countries (PIC) have accepted the invitation to attend this important Summit. FIPIC had been launched during my visit to Fiji in 2014, and I look forward to engaging with the PIC Leaders on issues that bring us together, such as climate change and sustainable development, capacity building and training, health and well-being, infrastructure and economic development,” tweeted Modi in his departure statement.
Apart from the FIPIC engagements, several bilateral interactions with Papua New Guinea Governor General Sir Bob Dadae, Prime Minister Marape and some of the other PIC Leaders participating in the Summit, will take place at Port Moresby.
Modi will thereafter travel to Sydney in Australia at the invitation of his Australian counterpart Anthony Albanese.
“I look forward to our bilateral meeting, which will be an opportunity to take stock of our bilateral ties and follow up on our first India-Australia Annual Summit held in New Delhi in March this year. I will also interact with Australian CEOs and business leaders, and meet the Indian community in Sydney at a special event,” said Modi.
40 engagements, meeting with over two dozen leaders
Modi has over 40 engagements and is expected to meet more than two dozen leaders during his upcoming visit to three countries — Japan, Papua New Guinea and Australia, according to the official statement released by Prime Minister’s Office.
During his three-nation visit, PM Modi will participate in the G7 countries Summit in Hiroshima, Japan and then he will co-chair the third Summit of the Forum for India-Pacific Islands Cooperation (FIPIC III Summit). India, who is attending as a guest at G7 Summit, participation would be structured around three formal sessions. Two of them would be held on May 20 and the third one on May 21, Foreign Secretary Vinay Kwatra said during the special briefing.
The two structural sessions on the 20th are the first one that relates to food, health, development and gender equality. The second session is on climate, energy and environment, and the third session on May 21 is titled Towards Peaceful, Stable, and Prosperous World.
The Prime Minister will then travel to Papua New Guinea to host the third Summit of the Forum for India-Pacific Islands Cooperation jointly with his Papua New Guinea counterpart James Marape on May 22.
In Papua New Guinea, Prime Minister will begin his bilateral engagements the next day with a call on the Governor General of the Pacific island country, which will be followed by a meeting with Prime Minister James Marape. This will be Prime Minister’s first visit to that country during his stay in Port Moraspi, according to Kwatra.
It is a hectic visit for the PM with over 40 engagements lined up. The PM will interact with over 2 dozen world leaders in summits as well as through bilateral meetings, as per PMO’s release.
Modi will also meet business leaders, important personalities, scholars, and members of the Indian community.
During his Australia visit, the PM will address thousands of members of the Indian diaspora in Sydney along with Australia’s PM.
The visit has a lot of elements from culture to commerce and diaspora to diplomacy, according to PMO.
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