US President Donald Trump on Tuesday invited Prime Minister Narendra Modi to attend the next G7 Summit, conveying his desire to expand the ambit of the grouping to include other important countries including India.
The invitation was extended during his conversation with the Prime Minister over the telephone.
The Prime Minister commended the US President for his creative and far-sighted approach, acknowledging that an expanded forum would be in keeping with the emerging realities of the post-COVID world.
He said that India would be happy to work with the US and other countries to ensure the success of the proposed summit in the United States.
A PMO release said that President Trump spoke about the US Presidency of the Group of Seven "and conveyed his desire to expand the ambit of the grouping beyond the existing membership, to include other important countries including India".
"In this context, he extended an invitation to Prime Minister Modi to attend the next G-7 Summit to be held in USA," the release said.
"Prime Minister Modi commended President Trump for his creative and far-sighted approach, acknowledging the fact that such an expanded forum would be in keeping with the emerging realities of the post-COVID world. The Prime Minister said that India would be happy to work with the US and other countries to ensure the success of the proposed summit," the release added.
The G7 comprises the United States, Britain, France, Japan, Germany, Italy and Canada and the European Union also attends its meetings. Prime Minister Modi had attended an outreach session at the G7 meet in Biarritz, France in August last year on the invitation of French President Emmanuel Macron.
The call comes days after Trump had announced that he would postpone a G7 summit he had hoped to hold in June until September or later and expand the list of invitees to include Australia, Russia, South Korea and India. Trump suggested that the Group of seven be called "G10 or G11", and proposed that the grouping meets in September or November this year.
Trump had cancelled an in-person G7 meeting that was scheduled for March as the coronavirus spread but had recently sought to revive it.
( With inputs from ANI )