What happened at the G7 summit?

This past weekend, leaders of the G7, a group of the world’s advanced economies, met in Hiroshima, Japan for the 2023 summit. Invitations were also extended this year to several emerging economies from the Global South, as well as India and Australia.

Unsurprisingly, President Zelenskyy’s visit dominated the Summit, adding urgency to discussions about a potential step up in allied support. Zelenskyy met with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, where the latter told the Ukrainian leader that India would do “everything they can” to help end the conflict in Ukraine. 

US President Joe Biden also told G7 leaders on Friday that the US will support a joint effort, driven by the United Kingdom, to train Ukrainian pilots for F-16 fighter jets, and will not oppose any allies that wish to send American-made fighter jets to support Ukraine’s defence. The move marks a shift in G7 support, given the long-term nature of the arrangement — training pilots is a lengthy process. The announcement was met with a warning from Russia that the supply of fighter jets would carry "colossal risks.”

Rising tensions with China also featured heavily in discussions and the communique. In the last few minutes of the summit, ‘Quad’ nations — consisting of the US, Australia, India and Japan — released a statement that expressed “serious concern at the militarisation of disputed features [and] efforts to disrupt other countries’ offshore resource exploitation activities” in the Indo-Pacific region.

It came after the G7 communique outlined concerns about China’s militarisation in the East and South China Seas, the ongoing threat they pose to Taiwan’s independence, and human rights concerns. The leaders took a strong stance against what they called "economic coercion" and called for China to "play by international rules.” Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said China posed "the greatest challenge of our age" in regards to global security and prosperity, and that it was "increasingly authoritarian at home and abroad.”

The communique did, however, outline the need for “constructive and stable” relations with the world’s second-largest economy.

In response, China accused the G7 of "smearing and attacking" them, and lodged a complaint with summit organiser Japan.