[Asia Economy Reporter Park Byung-hee] German Chancellor Olaf Scholz plans to invite Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi as a special guest to the upcoming Group of Seven (G7) summit next month, Bloomberg reported on the 1st (local time).
The German government's official invitation is expected to be announced as early as the 2nd. Currently, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is on a European tour, and on this day, a German-Indian ministerial meeting is scheduled to be held in Berlin.
Germany is currently the rotating chair of the G7. The next G7 summit is scheduled to take place from the 26th to the 28th of next month in the Bavarian Alps, Germany.
Germany's intention to invite Prime Minister Modi to the G7 summit is interpreted as an effort to enhance the effectiveness of sanctions against Russia.
After the Ukraine war, Western countries including the G7 imposed sanctions on Russia, but India has shown signs of strengthening its relationship with Russia.
Last month, the United Nations passed a resolution overwhelmingly to suspend Russia's membership on the Human Rights Council, with India abstaining. India has yet to take any sanctions against Russia due to the Ukraine war and has rather significantly increased its energy imports from Russia. India's actions have weakened the effectiveness of the sanctions imposed by the West on Russia.
Accordingly, the German government is expected to listen to India's stance on the Russia sanctions at the G7 summit and seek ways to cooperate on the sanctions.
For the same reason, the German government is reportedly considering inviting the leaders of Indonesia, South Africa, and Senegal to the G7 summit in addition to India.
Meanwhile, at the German-Indian ministerial meeting on the 2nd, the two countries plan to discuss easing German immigration laws to allow more skilled Indian workers to obtain jobs in Germany. Germany is filling its labor shortages with immigrants. They also plan to discuss increasing technology transfers to reduce India's greenhouse gas emissions. Additionally, considering that India is the largest importer of Russian weapons, they will discuss ways for India to import weapons from Europe instead of Russia.
The German government led by Chancellor Scholz is working to strengthen ties with democratic countries. For this reason, unlike previous chancellors who traditionally visited China first during their Asia tours, Scholz chose Japan as his first Asian tour country after taking office last week.
Prime Minister Modi is scheduled to visit France and Denmark following Germany and plans to exchange views on the Ukraine war during his European tour, according to the Indian government.
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