Modi meets world leaders at G7 Summit

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday met United States President Joe Biden, French President Emmanuel Macron and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau at the G7 Summit venue in Elmau, Germany and briefly interacted with each other ahead of the group photo.

Prime Minister Modi, who is in Germany on a two-day visit from Sunday for the summit of the G7, was received by German Chancellor Olaf Scholz upon his arrival at Schloss Elmau, the picturesque venue of the summit in southern Germany.

Before the group photo session, President Biden walked towards Prime Minister Modi and exchanged pleasantries and warmly shook hands.

Prime Minister Modi, who was standing next to Canadian Prime Minister Trudeau for the group photo, also was seen interacting with the Canadian Prime Minister. Both leaders are scheduled to hold a bilateral meeting later in this evening.

The bonhomie between Modi and Macron was on full display as they hugged and briefly chatted after the group photo. As the G7 leaders went inside the summit venue, the two leaders continued with their discussion and went inside together.

“PM @narendramodi with @POTUS @JoeBiden, @President @EmmanuelMacron and PM @JustinTrudeau at the G-7 Summit in Germany,” the Prime Minister's Office said on Twitter.

Prime Minister Modi also tweeted the group photo along with a caption that read: “At the G-7 Summit with world leaders”.

This was the first meeting between Modi and Biden after they met in Japan for the Quad summit in May.

The two leaders are also scheduled to meet in July for the I2U2 virtual summit of the quadrilateral economic forum comprising India, Israel, the UAE and the US.

The German Presidency has invited Argentina, India, Indonesia, Senegal and South Africa to the G7 Summit in Elmau, Bavaria. Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz is looking forward to constructive and lively talks with the partner countries.

“This will send out a powerful signal from Elmau -- a common message from strong democracies that are aware of their global responsibilities. Our aim is to launch concrete initiatives and partnerships focusing on the climate and sustainable investments, improve food security worldwide, increase global health and make democracies more resilient,” according to an official statement.

Modi is attending the G7 summit held in the Alpine castle of Schloss Elmau in southern Germany following an invitation by German Chancellor Scholz. The summit is being hosted by Germany in its capacity as the chair of G7.

In his remarks ahead of his departure, Modi said he was looking forward to meeting leaders of some of the participating G7 and guest countries on the sidelines of the summit.