"India has an important position in Global South; everybody counts on it as stabilising factor": Former Italian Sherpa for G8 and G20 Giampiero Massolo

Ambassador Massolo further emphasised that India is among the most important countries in the world

As the G7 Summit kicked off today evening in Italy, Former Italian Sherpa for G8 and G20 and Ambassador Giampiero Massolo stressed that India is a prominent country and a huge democracy, adding that everybody counts on it as a stabilising factor as it has a key position in the Global South. Speaking to ANI, Ambassador Massolo further emphasised that India is among the most important countries in the world.

"India, it's a prominent country. It's among the most important countries in the world, a huge democracy. So everybody counts on India as a stabilising factor. You have an important position in the global south. You are pledging towards a multipolar world," he told ANI. He further praised that this is the right approach by India in the international community.

"You don't want to substitute other orders, India-centric orders, to other orders in the international community. You want countries to cooperate together. And we think that this is the right approach and we highly value what you are doing on the international scene," Massolo said. Emphasising that the G7 Summit is an impressive gathering of Western democracies, the ambassador added that however, this time, it is not just a gathering of Western democracies, "it's a gathering that tries to involve most part of the international community, including India."

A global crisis is a way of coordinating positions to smooth transition, energy transition, in order to smooth technology transitions and to try to show unity in a very deep crisis, which is represented by the Russian invasion of Ukraine," he said. "It's a way of trying to bring closer positions of the international community of the main issues," Massolo said.

The ambassador emphasised that Italy puts a lot of importance on African development, bridging the gap, and also trying to grow together to avoid important flows of migrants. "For Italy in particular, we attach a lot of importance to issues like African development, bridging the gap, and also trying to grow together in order to avoid important flows of migrants, especially illegal channels of migration," he said.

Earlier in the day, the 50th Summit of the Group of Seven (G7) began in Apulia, Italy. Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni received global leaders including UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, US President Joe Biden, French President Emmanuel Macron and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau among others for the Summit.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, today evening, embarked on a trip to Italy to take part in the G7 Outreach Summit, marking his first trip abroad after assuming office for the third consecutive term. Prime Minister Modi, in his departure statement, said that he is glad that his first state visit in the third consecutive term is to Italy for the G7 Summit.

He recalled his previous visit to Italy and Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's visits to India which have contributed significantly to enhancing bilateral ties. The Italian PM in her opening remarks said that the country decided to host the summit in Apulia because it is a region of southern Italy and through the summit, Italy wishes to strengthen its dialogue with the nations of the Global South.

She added that the nation chose this location because this area has historically been a bridge between East and West. The G7 Summit in Italy is being held on June 13 and 14. (ANI)

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