According to the Prime Minister's Office (PMO), PM Narendra Modi has accepted US President Donald Trump's invitation to attend the G-7 summit, saying that India would be "happy" to work with the US to ensure "success" of the summit

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday accepted US President Donald Trump's invitation to attend the G-7 summit which was supposed to be held in the US later in June, but has now been postponed until September.

According to the Prime Minister's Office (PMO), PM Modi has accepted the invitation saying that India would be "happy" to work with the US to ensure "success" of the summit.

"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 the USA", a statement released by the PMO 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," said the press release.

US President Donald Trump and PM Modi spoke on the phone on Tuesday where both leaders discussed a wide ambit of issues.

On Sunday, Donald Trump had proposed expansion of the grouping to included India, Australia, South Korea and Russia.

Speaking to reporters, Donald Trump had said, "I don't feel that as a G-7 it properly represents what's going on in the world. It's a very outdated group of countries."

While India has accepted the proposal, Russia has rejected the idea of 'isolating' China.

When asked to respond on Donald Trump's proposal to hold an expanded G-7 summit with the participation of Russia and some other countries this autumn, the Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said, "The idea of an expanded G7 summit is, in general, a step in the right direction, but does not really mean a true representation. For instance, it is obvious that it is hardly possible to implement serious global initiatives without China."

Making a pitch for the G-20 grouping, Zakharova said, "We currently have an efficient, tried and tested format, G-20, which includes G-7, BRICS and other leading centres of economic growth and political influence of the entire world, not just one part of it."

Donald Trump and PM Modi discussed other important issues such as the situation at the India-China border and the need for reforms in the World Health Organisation (WHO).

On the India-China border stand-off, the Ministry of External Affair spokesperson Anurag Srivastava has said: "India-China border issue would be resolved bilaterally through dialogue."

Recently, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh had spoken to his counterpart US Mark Esper where he had conveyed to the US side that on the India-China border issue, there is an established bilateral mechanism to resolve issues.

According to sources, Rajnath Singh said, "Sometimes, it takes time but we have in the past managed to resolve these issues through bilateral mechanisms. We have to be resolute and patient."

PM Modi also raised the matter and expressed "concern" over the ongoing violent protests across the US over the death of George Floyd.

"PM Modi expressed concern regarding the ongoing civil disturbances in the US, and conveyed his best wishes for an early resolution of the situation", said a statement.

The two leaders spoke at length where Donald Trump warmly recalled his visit to India in February this year.

According to the Prime Minister's Office (PMO), "PM Modi said that the visit had been memorable and historic on many accounts, and had also added new dynamism to the bilateral relationship".

The press release further said: "The exceptional warmth and candour of the conversation reflected the special nature of the Indo-US ties, as well as the friendship and mutual esteem between both leaders."

The two sides - India and the US - have been engaging at various levels on a regular basis. This was the highest level of engagement since the two leaders spoke last in April when the US needed hydroxychloroquine and PM Modi assured Donald Trump that it would be dispatched.