G7: Modi Touts Gandhian Ideals, Gets Hug From Biden, Handshake From Zelensky

HIROSHIMA, (ANI) – Prime Minister Narendra Modi, at the G7 summit on May 19 shared a hug with President Joe Biden as they met here. Modi attended primarily to speak on challenges facing the globe, including food, fertilizer, and energy security.

Biden told Modi that his popularity was causing White House trouble as there had been a flood of invitation requests to attend the official dinner which Biden will be hosting for Modi when he visits the US in June.

Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who was greeted with exuberant hugs by several world leaders, exchanged a handshake with Modi. India has been buying Russian oil and failed to reprimand Russia in international forums. Nevertheless, Zelensky played statesman and on May 20, said that he believed that India would participate in the restoration of the rules-based international order that all free nations clearly need.

Zelenskyy shared a video where he said, “I spoke with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. I gave an update on the progress of our peace formula. We have already passed many stages of presenting the formula to leaders and countries from different parts of the world. The day before the formula was successfully presented to the participants of the Arab League Summit.”

This was the first meeting between the two leaders since the Russia-Ukraine conflict that began last year on February 24.

On May 20 Modi unveiled a bust of Mahatma Gandhi in the Japanese city. Modi said the world today is grappling with climate change and terrorism and asserted that the best solution to win the fight against the climate crisis was by following Gandhi’s ideals.

The bust site is adjacent to the Motoyasu River and is close to the A-Bomb Dome which is visited by thousands of people every day. The bust has been sculpted by Padma Bhushan awardee Ram Vanji Sutar.