NEW DELHI : As Narendra Modi took oath as the Prime Minister for the third consecutive term, a number of global events are lined up, where India’s participation will play a crucial role in shaping geopolitics.
India has emerged as a strong voice in the past decade. PM Modi has prioritised positioning India as the ‘Voice of the Global South’ with the ‘Vishwa Bandhu’ approach. The G20 Summit was held under India’s presidency with the theme of ‘Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam’.
Here are the major events that will take place in recent months after Modi 3.0 taking charge:
BRICS Foreign Ministers Meeting
The first assignment for India’s foreign policy will come with the BRICS Foreign Ministers’ meeting which is scheduled to take place on June 10-11, in Nizhny Novgorod, Russia, with participation from foreign ministers of the member states.
BRICS is an intergovernmental organisation comprising 10 nations. The organisation includes Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa. Four new countries: Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates joined the grouping as full members last year.
Russia took over the chairmanship of BRICS on January 1, 2024.
The Ministry of External Affairs recently said that BRICS is an important platform and India looks forward to participation in meetings organized by Russia as BRICS chair this year.
G7 Summit 2024
The next big assignment for India will come with the Group of Seven (G7) Summit 2024 in Italy, scheduled from June 13 to 15. Prime Minister Modi will himself participate in the event.
Italian PM Giorgia Meloni invited Prime Minister Modi to the summit in April.
The Group of Seven (G7) is an informal forum that brings together Italy, Canada, France, Germany, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States of America. The European Union also participates in the Group and is represented at the summits by the President of the European Council and the President of the European Commission.
Italy assumed the Presidency of the G7 for the seventh time on January 1 this year. The Italian Presidency will last till December 31, 2024.
Swiss Peace Summit
The global peace summit in Switzerland aims to chart a path to the resolution of the Russia-Ukraine conflict. This is another big global event, which is scheduled to take place on June 15-16. It is pertinent to note that India has not confirmed its presence at the event.
The summit is part of Ukraine’s ongoing effort to secure diplomatic support for its 10-point peace plan announced in November 2022, which includes the full withdrawal of Russian troops and accountability for war crimes committed by Russia.
The summit is the highest-level event yet in Ukraine’s “peace formula” initiative. It follows four lower-level conferences held since June 2023.
Ukraine expects attendees at the summit to develop an action plan on three key aspects of its 10-point peace plan. The first point, free navigation, involves protecting port infrastructure in the Black Sea and global food security. The second focus is energy and nuclear security, which includes an end to strikes on Ukraine’s critical infrastructure. And the third focus will be the exchange of captives and the return of children illegally abducted to Russia.
In a recent press conference, the Ministry of External Affairs said that India has received an invitation from the Swiss side, but the decision regarding participation is still pending.
US Vice President Kamala Harris will travel to Switzerland for the summit. China has indicated that it might not attend the Ukraine Peace Summit set to be held in Switzerland.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy confirmed that they have confirmation from 106 countries regarding participation in the summit.
The Russia-Ukraine conflict — that started on February 24, 2022, after Moscow launched ‘special military operations’ against Kyiv — has dragged on for over three years and has caused heavy damage to infrastructure and civilian casualties in both countries.
US NSA Jake Sullivan’s India visit
United States National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan will be coming to India for an official visit.
Recently, during a telephone conversation, US President Joe Biden congratulated Prime Minister Narendra Modi on his third consecutive win in the general elections. The two leaders also discussed about Sullivan’s upcoming visit.
Sullivan’s visit aims to engage the new government on shared US-India priorities, including the trusted, strategic technology partnership.
SCO Summit in Kazakhstan
The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Summit is scheduled to take place later this year under the presidency of Kazakhstan.
India participated in SCO Foreign Minister and Defence Minister meetings earlier this year. MEA Secretary (ER) Dammu Ravi participated in the SCO
Foreign Ministers meeting and Defence Secretary Giridhar Aramane participated in the SCO Defence Ministers’ meeting.
The SCO, established in Shanghai in June 2001, is an intergovernmental organization primarily focused on regional security concerns and combatting terrorism, ethnic separatism, and religious extremism.
In recent years, the SCO has expanded its priorities to include regional development initiatives.
India, which was the SCO chair in 2023, held the SCO Leaders Summit this year on July 4 in a virtual format last year.
Narendra Modi took oath as Prime Minister of India for his third successive term on Sunday at an impressive ceremony at the Rashtrapati Bhavan which is being attended by leaders from India’s neighbourhood and Indian Ocean region.
The Bharatiya Janata Party-led NDA secured 293 seats in the Lok Sabha elections. BJP won 240 seats on its own. In the 543-strong lower house of the Indian parliament, 272 is the minimum majority figure.
Notably, PM Modi is the second Indian leader to win a third term after founding prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru.
Several leaders and state heads of neighbouring regions and the Indian Ocean region have been invited for PM Modi’s swearing-in ceremony as distinguished guests, a testament to India’s ‘Neighbourhood First’ policy.
President of Sri Lanka, Ranil Wickremesinghe; President of Maldives, Mohamed Muizzu; Vice-President of Seychelles, Ahmed Afif; Prime Minister of Bangladesh, Sheikh Hasina; Prime Minister of Mauritius, Pravind Kumar Jugnauth; Prime Minister of Nepal, Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda’; and Prime Minister of Bhutan, Tshering Tobgay attended the event on Sunday. (ANI)