Global recovery from the coronavirus pandemic, climate change and China were firmly in focus at the recently concluded G7 Summit in southwest England's Cornwall.
The leaders of the world's seven richest democracies—Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the UK and the United States—met at Carbis Bay Hotel, a seaside resort in Cornwall, from June 11-13.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi attended the event virtually as India was one of the guest countries. After the event, the G7 countries released a 25-page communique, detailing the agenda and conclusions.
Here are the major announcements made during the event:
> The leaders pledged 1 billion doses of COVID-19 vaccines to poor countries.
> The G7 renewed a pledge to raise their contributions to meet an overdue spending pledge of $100 billion a year to help poorer countries cut carbon emissions. The countries also promised to halt and reverse biodiversity loss by 2030.
> The leaders also called for an investigation into the origins of the COVID-19 outbreak.
> The G7 also pulled up China over human rights in the country's Xinjiang province, demanded freedoms and a high degree of autonomy for Hong Kong.
> The countries announced an infrastructure plan that could rival China's Belt and Road Initiative by supporting projects such as railways in Africa and wind farms in Asia.
> The G7 also reiterated its support for the upcoming Tokyo Olympics, which is scheduled to begin in July.
Modi again called for a temporary waiver on COVID-19 vaccine patents, saying the G7 Summit should send out a message of "one earth, one health" to the world.
"Prime Minister committed India's support for collective endeavours to improve global health governance. He sought the G7's support for the proposal moved at the WTO by India and South Africa, for a TRIPS waiver on COVID related technologies," said a statement from the Prime Minister's Office.
(With inputs from Reuters)