Prime Minister Narendra Modi had a packed and productive day at the G7 summit, during which he held bilateral talks with a range of leaders, including meetings with the Chancellor of Germany and the Presidents of Mexico and South Korea for the first time.
During the few hours he spent at the resort of Kananaskis in the Canadian Rockies, he also met French President Emmanuel Macron, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, Italian PM Giorgia Meloni, Australian PM Anthony Albanese, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, Japanese PM Shigeru Ishiba, Brazilian President Lula da Silva, EU Commission President and European Council President.
Modi said he was “delighted” to hold talks with Germany’s new leader Friedrich Merz. They looked forward to working on areas like counter-terrorism and terror financing.
He also met Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum and Korean PM Lee Jae-myung for the first time.
The meetings came mainly in the form of pull-asides.
After meeting Ishiba, Modi posted that India and Japan “remain committed to further deepening bilateral ties across various sectors.”
He said it was “always a delight to interact with a friend” after meeting Macron, adding they exchanged “perspectives on a wide range of issues.”
He described the conversation with Starmer as “exceptional.”
“We will keep working together to add further momentum to this wonderful friendship,” he added.
Modi said he fully agreed with Meloni that “India’s friendship with Italy will continue to get stronger, greatly benefiting our people.”
The Ministry of External Affairs said Modi and Sheinbaum “deliberated on enhancing cooperation in areas of trade, investment, start-ups, innovation, pharmaceuticals, science and technology, the automotive sector, and promoting people-to-people exchanges.”
Similarly, after meeting his South Korean counterpart, the MEA said the leaders agreed to strengthen cooperation in trade and commerce, investment, technology, green hydrogen, and more.
Modi packed in the meetings within the short span of about 10 hours at the summit.