The Group of Seven industrialised nations' Foreign Ministers exchanged their views on the upcoming 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics amid the echoing call to boycott the games, Kyodo News reported citing a Japanese delegation source.
The G-7 meeting in Liverpool, England, is being held as Australia, UK and Canada have joined forces with the United States over a diplomatic boycott, citing China's human rights record, but France, to host the Summer Games in Paris in 2024, and Italy, which will host the Winter Games in 2026, are unlikely to follow suit, the Japanese publication said further.
Among other issues, the Foreign Ministers have also expressed concerns over the Russian military's movements around the border with Ukraine.
The top diplomats from Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the US along with the European Union are likely to discuss more wide-ranging issues in the meeting.
For the first time, the G-7 foreign ministers on Sunday will be joined by their counterparts from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations for an expanded meeting.
Both groups are expected to seek coordination over China's military buildup and assertive territorial claims in the Indo-Pacific region said Kyodo News.
Of the 10-member ASEAN, Myanmar will be excluded from the meeting as the country has been thrown into political turmoil following the military coup in February.
Britain holds the G-7 presidency this year. It has also invited Australia, South Korea and India for expanded sessions on Sunday with the G-7 and ASEAN on security and infrastructure development in the Indo-Pacific, the coronavirus pandemic and gender equality, reported the Japanese publication.
( With inputs from ANI )
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