Germany has informally intimated its intent to invite India for the 48th G7 summit which is scheduled to be held from 26 – 28 June at Schloss Elmau in the Bavarian Alps.
A formal invite from Berlin to India is expected soon. Germany is the chair of the grouping for this year and will host the summit amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
It is for the fourth consecutive time India has been invited to the G7 summit since 2019. For this year, the German government has dismissed reports of Berlin not being keen to invite New Delhi for the summit due to its tough Russian policy amid the Ukraine war. It is believed that Germany is planning to not only invite India but some other countries too for the June summit.
India was first invited to the G7 outreach summit in 2003 when the then Indian PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee was invited by France. From 2005 to 2009, India has been annually invited to the G7 outreach summit with PM Manmohan Singh representing India.
Germany, this year’s host for the G7 summit, has had close ties with New Delhi. Indian PM Narendra Modi is expected to travel to Germany in early May for the 6th Intergovernmental Consultations (IGC); an informal, non-decision-making forum which takes place every two alternate years between the two countries.
Due to the pandemic this year’s IGC is taking place after a gap of three years. This will also be the first in-person meeting between PM Narendra Modi and the new German Chancellor Olaf Scholz. The PM will also travel to Denmark for the India Nordic in-person summit.
