• The document commits to collective effort to reduce methane emissions by 75% by 2030
• India’s Prime Minister Modi meets with G7 leaders and Pope Francis

BORGO EGNAZIA (TIP): Leaders of the Group of Seven (G7) developed democracies will commit to accelerating their transition away from fossil fuels during this decade, according to a draft of a statement to be issued at the end of their ongoing summit in Italy, says a Reuters report.

“We will transition away from fossil fuels in energy systems in a just, orderly, and equitable manner, accelerating actions in this critical decade, to achieve net-zero by 2050 in keeping with the best available science,” said the draft seen by Reuters.

Other commitments on climate policy in the draft include a pledge “to phase out existing unabated coal power generation in our energy systems during the first half of 2030s.” With the COP29 United Nations climate conference due to start in November, the leaders of the United States, Canada, Japan, Germany, France, Britain and Italy said they would submit “more ambitious” national climate plans, according to the draft.

The document commits to a collective effort to reduce methane emissions by 75% by 2030 but, in a section likely to upset environment activists, the leaders give a green light to public investments in natural gas, a polluting fossil fuel.

“In the exceptional circumstance of accelerating the phase-out of our dependency on Russian energy, publicly supported investments in the gas sector can be appropriate as a temporary response, subject to clearly defined national circumstances,” the draft said.

Meanwhile, India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday, June 14, held talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, French President Emmanuel Macron and his British counterpart Rishi Sunak on the sidelines of G7 Summit in Italy’s Apulia region. He also met with Pope Francis who he invited to visit India.

It is learnt that Ukraine’s Zelenskyy briefed Modi on various aspects of the Russia-Ukraine conflict. Modi had met Zelenskyy on the sidelines of the previous G7 summit in Hiroshima in May last year as well.

India has been maintaining that the conflict in Ukraine must be resolved through dialogue and diplomacy.

Modi and French President Macron discussed ways to further strengthen the strategic partnership, including in areas of defense, nuclear and space, and exchanged views on key global and regional issues.

The two leaders met in the southern resort town of Italy.

“Taking Strategic Partnership to new levels! PM @narendramodi met President @EmmanuelMacron of France on the sidelines of the 50th G7 Summit in Apulia, Italy,” Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal posted on X.

“The two leaders discussed ways to further strengthen the partnership including in areas of defense, nuclear, space, education, climate action, digital public infrastructure, critical technologies, connectivity and culture. They also exchanged views on key global and regional issues,” he wrote.

It is Prime Minister Modi’s first foreign trip after assuming office for a third time this month. The two leaders last met in January when the French President visited India to attend the 75th Republic Day of India.

PM Modi’s meeting with his British counterpart Sunak followed his talks with French President Macron. The two leaders greeted each other with a warm hug as they met on the sidelines of the 50th G7 Summit at the luxury resort of Borgo Egnazia in Apulia.

Modi reaffirmed his commitment to further strengthen the India-UK strategic partnership in the third term of the NDA government and reviewed the progress made in the ongoing FTA negotiations.

“It was a delight to meet PM @RishiSunak in Italy. I reiterated my commitment to further strengthen the India-UK Comprehensive Strategic Partnership in the third term of the NDA Government,” Modi posted on X soon after their meeting.

“There is great scope to deepen ties in sectors like semiconductors, technology and trade. We also talked about further cementing ties in the defense sector,” Modi wrote.

The spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs Randhir Jaiswal described the meeting between the two leaders as “fruitful.”

“The two leaders took stock of bilateral relations in areas of defense and security, trade and economic collaboration, critical and high technology sectors and people to people connect. They discussed implementation of Roadmap 2030 and progress made in ongoing FTA negotiations,” Jaiswal posted on X.

Sunak and Modi last met in person at the G20 Summit in New Delhi last September, when they had agreed to accelerate the FTA talks with the hope of signing off before India’s general election.

However, the trade talks are now expected to resume only after a new UK government is elected on July 4.

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.

Modi is attending the summit on the invitation of Italian President Georgia Meloni and will address an Outreach session on Artificial Intelligence, Energy, Africa and the Mediterranean alongside leaders of other invited countries and Pope Francis.
(With inputs from PTI)