India's participation at G7 shows West needs support to confront challenges

New delhi: India's regular participation at the G7 summits clearly reflects that the West needs its support to confront major challenges facing the globe, Foreign Secretary Vinay Mohan Kwatra said on Friday, ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Germany to attend the annual conclave of the powerful bloc.

The summit of the G7, a grouping of the world's seven richest nations, will be held in Alpine castle of Schloss Elmau in southern Germany on June 26 and 27 amid the Ukraine crisis that has fuelled a global food and energy crisis.

"India's regular participation at the G7 summits clearly points to increasing acceptance and recognition that India needs to be a part of any and every sustained effort to find solutions to solve global challenges," Kwatra said at a media briefing.

He said Modi will hold bilateral meetings and discussions with the leaders of G7 and also the guest countries on the sidelines of the G7 summit.

Besides India, Germany has also invited Argentina, Indonesia, Senegal and South Africa as guests for the summit to recognise the democracies of the global south as its partners. Germany is hosting the summit in its capacity as G7 chair for this year.

From Germany, Modi will travel to the United Arab Emirates on June 28 to pay his condolences on the passing away of Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the former president of the Gulf nation.

Asked whether India would be under pressure from the G7 countries to restrict its procurement of crude oil from Russia, the foreign secretary made it clear that sourcing of energy is totally driven by the country's national interests, adding that consideration is "very well understood".

"Whatever the trading arrangements that India puts in place with regard to the purchase of crude oil all over the world are determined purely from the consideration of energy security of India and there is no other consideration," he said.

"I think that consideration is very well understood. I would even say appreciated across the countries. I do not see any point of assuming any pressure on that issue. India has continued its oil trade and purchases from wherever we need to do it," he said.

Kwatra said it is purely determined, governed and motivated by India's energy security considerations, noting that it is one of the key aspects in terms of the country's national economic interests.