(ANI)
(ANI)
President Joe Biden is touting a message of revived US leadership on his first foreign tour, declaring "America is back" after the tumultuous administration of Donald Trump.
"We're on the same page," Biden told reporters as he met French President Emmanuel Macron on the summit sidelines, pushing to rally the West against a resurgent China and recalcitrant Russia.
The statement comprises a series of health policy commitments, including slashing the time taken to develop and license vaccines, treatments and diagnostics for any future disease to under 100 days, and reinforcement of global surveillance networks.
The letter, whose signatories include former British Prime Ministers Tony Blair and Gordon Brown, argues the investment needed is affordable for the world's richest economies and vital to stopping the spread of new coronavirus variants that could undermine current vaccines.
Over 200 world leaders, including former presidents, prime ministers and ministers have backed a campaign urging the Group of Seven (G7) rich nations to help vaccinate the world's poorest from low-income economies against COVID-19 by paying two-thirds of an estimated USD 66 billion required.
"At the invitation of UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will participate in the outreach sessions of the G7 summit on June 12 and 13 in virtual format," MEA spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said.
He said the theme for the summit is 'Build Back Better' and the UK has outlined four priority areas for its presidency of the powerful grouping.
"These are 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," Bagchi said.
This is the second time Modi will participate in a G7 meeting. India was invited by France in its capacity as G7 presidency to the Biarritz summit in 2019 as a 'Goodwill Partner' and he participated in the sessions on 'Climate, Biodiversity and Oceans' and 'Digital Transformation'.
Last month, the MEA said Modi will not travel to the UK to attend the summit of the G7 grouping in view of the prevailing coronavirus situation in the country.
The Group of Seven (G7) comprises the UK, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the US.
As chair of G7, the UK has invited India, Australia, South Korea, South Africa to the summit as Guest countries.
Ahead of a crucial summit of the G7 grouping, French President Emmanuel Macron has called for easing the supply of raw materials for the production of coronavirus vaccines to India and some other countries, saying such a step was absolutely necessary to ramp up manufacturing for their own requirement as well to help the African region.
At a press conference in Paris, Macron also favoured a proposal by India and South Africa at the World Trade Organisation for a temporary lift on the patents on COVID-19 vaccines and said France will raise the issue at the G7 summit.
UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson opened the G7 Summit in Cornwall on Friday with a message for the world leaders to "learn lessons" from the pandemic and warned that it is vital not to repeat mistakes of the "the last big economic recession of 2008" when the recovery was not uniform across all parts of society.
As the host of the summit of the Group of Seven – made up of the UK, US, Canada, France, Germany, Italy and Japan as well the European Union – Johnson said it was "genuinely wonderful" to see everyone in person for the first major physical event since the pandemic last year.
India, invited as a guest country along with South Africa, Australia and South Korea, will be participating virtually, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi set to address three breakout sessions over Saturday and Sunday.
He will speak in a total of three sessions spread across June 12 and 13. The sessions are themed Building Back Stronger, Building Back Together and Building Back Greener.
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