What is the news : G7 countries annual summit to be held

Which are G7 countries : United States, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United Kingdom

Details :

• Together the member countries represent 40% of global GDP and 10% of the world’s population
• Unlike other bodies such as NATO, the G7 has no legal existence, permanent secretariat or official members. It also has no binding impact on policy and all decisions and commitments made at G7 meetings need to be ratified independently by governing bodies of member states.
• The G7 draws its roots from a meeting between the current G7 members, excluding Canada, that took place in 1975
• The UK holds the G7 presidency for 2021 and has organised the conference for this Saturday at the Carbis Bay Hotel in Cornwall.
• This year, India, South Korea and Australia have been invited to attend the G7 summit as participating guests.
• At the end of the summit, the UK will publish a document called a communique which will outline what has been agreed upon during the meeting.

What is on the agenda this year:

• The UK currently holds the presidency and has invited India, along with Australia, South Korea and South Africa, as guest countries for the Summit, which will witness a hybrid of physical and virtual participation.
• The theme is ‘Build Back Better’, and the UK has outlined four priority areas for its presidency: leading the global recovery from coronavirus while strengthening resilience against future pandemics; promoting future prosperity by championing free and fair trade; tackling climate change and preserving the planet’s biodiversity; and championing shared values and open societies.
• The leaders are expected to exchange views on the way forward on global recovery from the pandemic with a focus on health and climate change.

How often has India attended it: Since 2014, this is the second time the Prime Minister will be participating in a G7 meeting. India had been invited by the G7 French presidency in 2019 to the Biarritz Summit as a “Goodwill Partner” and Prime Minister Modi participated in the sessions on ‘Climate, Biodiversity and Oceans’ and ‘Digital Transformation’.