Congress takes swipe at Modi ahead of his first Italy visit in third term

The Congress on Thursday, 13 June, took a swipe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi ahead of his first visit abroad in his third term, saying he is flying to Italy to "salvage his diminished international image" at this year's G7 Summit.

Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said the G7 Summit of the heads of state of USA, Canada, Germany, France, Italy, UK and Japan has been taking place since the late 1970s.

Between 1997 and 2014, Russia was also a member, he pointed out.

Since 2003, India, China, Brazil, Mexico and South Africa have also been invited to G7 Summits, Ramesh said.

The most famous of the G7 Summits from India's point of view was in June 2007 in Helligendamm in Germany as it was here that the famous Singh-Merkel formula for ensuring equity in global climate change negotiations was first presented to the world, he said.

"It is still talked about. Dr. Manmohan Singh and German chancellor Angela Merkel created history. Dr. Manmohan Singh had emerged as the voice of the Global South through substance and not through hollow self-boasts," Ramesh said.

"Of course it is too much to expect from our 'one-third' Pradhan Mantri to know or acknowledge this history as he flies to Italy today to salvage his diminished international image at this year's Summit," the Congress general secretary said.

Modi, accompanied by a high-level delegation, will travel to Italy on Thursday to attend an outreach session on the summit on June 14. It will be his first trip abroad after assuming charge as prime minister for the third term.

The G7 summit, to be held in the luxury resort of Borgo Egnazia in Italy's Apulia region from June 13 to 15, is expected to be dominated by the raging war in Ukraine and the conflict in Gaza.