The soft power

Quite steadily, India is brought to that place in the international arena where it finds support from other nations and groups of nations without formally belonging to it. The fact that PM Modi was invited to the just-concluded G7 Summit at France despite the fact that India is not a part of this imposing group of nations speaks volumes of the soft power India wields on the world stage. Of the admission of the Ministry of External Affairs, the invitation from the French President is a reflection of the personal chemistry between the two leaders besides recognising India as a major economic power. The PM was on a three-nation visit which ended with the Summit at Biarritz where the Indian Prime Minister met his fellow world leaders. The G7 Summit in Biarritz, France was centred on biodiversity, oceans, and climate. As a 'special partner' invited here, Modi underscored India's contribution to addressing diminishing biodiversity, climate change, the global crisis of water shortage, and marine pollution. The vast expanse of India warrants its leader to speak on the crucial global issues. Among other world leaders that Prime Minister Modi met on the sidelines of the G7 summit were Senegalese President Macky Sall, separate meetings were also held with his British counterpart Boris Johnson, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, and US President Donald Trump. G7 Summit was a platform to reach out to a wider audience of the global leadership and it was here that Prime Minister Modi led the session on digital transformation, highlighting India's endeavour in deploying digital technology to combat and curb social inequalities by means of empowerment and inclusion. The PM's visit to Bahrain was a triumphant one where he was conferred with King Hamad Order of the Renaissance, following which he landed in the arena of the illustrious world leaders at Biarritz, greeting his contemporaries and adding more strength to the ties India has established with the world. A highlight of the G7 Summit with respect to India was the conflict centred on Kashmir which underwent a massive and unexpected political turn-around with the bifurcation of the state of Jammu and Kashmir and making both the parts UTs. It has been unanimously agreed and the G7 Summit only enforced the global stance that the decision on Kashmir was India's own matter and any dispute with Pakistan over this transformation is a bilateral issue between the neighbours. India has firmly maintained that it will not entertain any third party in the bilateral discord over Kashmir and that, as we see, is widely respected by the world. The way Modi deftly concluded the G7 summit, a very relevant message is also sent out to Pakistan – India's powers is beyond immediate territories.