Topics Covered: Important International institutions, agencies and fora, their structure, mandate.
G7 summit:
Context:
The United Kingdom has invited India, Australia and South Korea to attend the G7 summit that is scheduled to be held in June as “guest countries”.
What is G7?
The G7, originally G8, was set up in 1975 as an informal forum bringing together the leaders of the world’s leading industrial nations.
The summit gathers leaders from the European Union (EU) and the following countries: Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States.
The major purpose of the G-7 is to discuss and deliberate on international economic issues. It sometimes acts in concert to help resolve other global problems, with a special focus on economic issues.
How did G7 become G8?
- Russia was formally inducted as a member in the group in 1998, which led G7 to become G8.
- However, Russian President Vladimir Putin’s condemnable act of moving Russian troops into eastern Ukraine and conquering Crimea in 2014 drew heavy criticism from the other G8 nations.
- The other nations of the group decided to suspend Russia from the G8 as a consequence of its actions and the group became G7 again in 2014.
InstaLinks:
Prelims Link:
- Groups: G7, G8, G10, G15, G20, G24 countries.
- Geographical location of member countries.
Mains Link:
Discuss the relevance of G7 countries today. What are the reforms necessary to make the grouping more effective?
Sources: the Hindu.
