Amid tight security, leaders of G7, guest countries and members of international bodies are reaching Hiroshima for a three day summit, which will be followed by the QUAD Leaders summit.
According to foreign secretary Vinay Kwatra, “Prime Minister Narendra Modi will leave on Friday for the three nation tour and the first leg is Hiroshima, Japan. He is going to Japan at the invitation of Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and there will be a bilateral discussion on the sidelines.
The Prime Minister has a hectic schedule in Hiroshima, besides the G7 summit there will be QUAD Leaders Summit, several bilateral discussions with G7 leaders, guest countries as well as international organizations. During his visit, PM Modi will unveil a bust of Mahatma Gandhi in Hiroshima, the FS said.
Briefing media persons ahead of the visit, foreign secretary Vinay Kwatra said that the four leaders of QUAD — India, Japan, Australia and the US will be holding the next summit in Hiroshima on the sidelines of the G7 meeting. “All the four leaders of the QUAD are going to be present at the same place for the same conference.”
What will be the agenda of the QUAD Leaders meeting?
The only change according to the foreign secretary is the venue which and the leaders will go ahead with the agenda it was decided at Canberra. FS Kwatra said that several deliverables are expected to come out of the QUAD Leaders meeting where all the four leaders will take stock of the situation and build further on that.
The fifth QUAD Leaders meeting will be taking place at a time when India is holding the G20 Presidency and Japan, the G7 and the US will host APEC.
And it comes at a time when the Russia-Ukraine war continues, Chinese presence in the Indo-Pacific Region is increasing, Indian and Chinese PLA troops remain in standoff.
The leaders are expected to talk about regional and international challenges, emerging technologies, enhancing clean energy, connectivity, health security and more.
And will also talk about cooperation among other multilateral foras including ASEAN and the Pacific Islands Forum, which will shape the region.
Tight Security
According to reports almost 24,000 police officers from across Japan have been deployed to safeguard the G7 summit. There are sniffer dogs, drones attached with balloons which will hover in the sky and also the Japanese Coast Guard vessels have been mobilized which will be patrolling up and down the river. Almost 200 schools have been closed for the duration of the summit.
The Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park
PM Modi along with other G7 leaders are expected to visit the museum and the island. This place is home to the Atomic Bomb Dome which will remain sealed, there is the atomic bomb museum.
