Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been invited by the United Kingdom to attend the G7 summit of leading democratic economies to be held in the country’s Cornwall region during June 11 to 13.

Highlighting the growing cooperation between India and the United Kingdom over the fight against the coronavirus, a issued by the British High Commission said: “As ‘pharmacy of the world’, India already supplies more than 50% of the world’s vaccines, and the UK and India have worked closely together throughout the pandemic. Our Prime Ministers speak regularly and Prime Minister Johnson has said he will visit India ahead of the G7.”

The G7 group, which includes the UK, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the USA — and the European Union, will discuss global issues like the coronavirus pandemic, climate change and open trade.

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who had cancelled his visit to India for this year’s Republic Day event because of the new virus strain that surfaced in Britain, has now rescheduled his visit to India “ahead of the G7.”

Apart from India, Australia and South Korea have also been invited to the summit. The three countries have been invited to the summit as guests to “deepen the expertise and experience around the table,” the official statement said.

“UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson will use the first in-person G7 summit in almost two years to ask leaders, including Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, to seize the opportunity to build back better from coronavirus, uniting to make the future fairer, greener and more prosperous,” the statement said.

“Coronavirus is doubtless the most destructive force we have seen for generations and the greatest test of the modern world order we have experienced. It is only right that we approach the challenge of building back better by uniting with a spirit of openness to create a better future,” the statement quoted Mr Johnson as saying.