EXPLAINER
Japanese Prime Minister Kishida has expanded the G7 guest list to strengthen ties with middle-power countries.
Hiroshima, Japan – The Group of Seven (G7) summit is attended by more countries than the name suggests.
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, host of this year’s gathering of prosperous democracies, has expanded the event’s guest list to strengthen ties with countries in the middle power and global South.
The Japanese leader’s outreach comes at a time when the forum aims to strengthen cooperation on global challenges, including Russia’s war in Ukraine, China’s rise, food security and climate change.
How many countries are represented at the assembly?
The G7 currently consists of the United States, Canada, Japan, the United Kingdom, France, Germany and Italy, as well as the European Union as an “unlisted member”, but the Forum has also invited non-member countries to participate such as India, Poland over the years and Spain.
This year, heads of state and government from 16 countries and the EU are taking part in the three-day summit.
In addition to the G7 members and the EU, heads of state and government from India, Brazil, Indonesia, Vietnam, Australia, South Korea as well as the Comoros and the Cook Islands are also taking part – the latter two also represent the current chairs of the African Union and African Union forums respectively Pacific Islands Forums.
Why do the G7 want to expand their relations with developing countries?
As the G7 seeks to promote a united front to pressure Russia to end its war in Ukraine, much of the international community refuses to take sides in the conflict.
With the exception of Japan, the sanctions campaign against Russia was a Western-led effort.
While Russia’s trade with the G7 countries has slumped, China, India and Turkey have offset much of the slack with increased imports of Russian coal, oil and gas. Russia’s economy shrank by only about 2.2 percent in 2022, far less than expected.
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva (left) and Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida shake hands before their bilateral meeting at the G7 summit in Hiroshima, western Japan [Japan Pool via AP]While still influential, the G7’s share of the global economy has declined from about 70 percent in the 1980s to 44 percent today – meaning it has limited room to tighten the screws on Russia without the approval of the broader international community get community.
“Kishida wants to move closer to the Global South because the G7 approach to Russia – and China – is currently somewhat isolated,” Sayuri Shirai, an economics professor at Tokyo’s Keio University, told Al Jazeera.
“Many developing and emerging countries are very cautious about becoming part of a G7-led coalition because of their closer natural resource or economic ties with Russia and/or China.
“The Global South is important because its market share is growing and its share of GDP (PPP, based on Purchasing Power Parity) is more than 50 percent,” Shirai added. “Meanwhile, Japan is aging and its population is declining.”
Does this mean that smaller and developing countries will have a greater say in global affairs?
Some observers hope this year’s G7 summit will mark the beginning of a greater international role for voices that have been neglected in the past.
In an interview with Nikkei Asia earlier this week, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said he would use the summit to “amplify the voices and concerns of the Global South”.
Ian Hall, deputy director of the Griffith Asia Institute in Australia, said the G7’s broadened focus reflects a “major crisis of multilateralism”.
“I think the outreach is real: it recognizes that the voices of the Global South are not always heard and they need to be heard if we are to find a way forward on issues like climate change,” Hall told Al Jazeera .
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi attends a G7 working session on nutrition, health and development during the G7 summit in Hiroshima, Japan [Susan Walsh/Pool via Reuters]Critics are rather skeptical about the G7’s interest in giving the Global South a greater say in the world.
In an analysis released ahead of the summit, Oxfam said the G7 countries continue to demand $232 million a day in debt repayments from low- and middle-income countries despite spending $13.3 trillion in unpaid aid and Debt financing for climate action.
“Wealthy G7 countries like to present themselves as saviors, but what they are doing is a deadly double standard – playing by one set of rules while their former colonies are being forced to play by another. “Do what I say, not what I do,” said Amitabh Behar, Oxfam International’s interim managing director.
“It is the rich world that owes the Global South. The help they promised decades ago but never gave. The huge cost of climate damage caused by the reckless burning of fossil fuels. The immense wealth built on colonialism and slavery.”