The number of those killed, injured and displaced in the ongoing Russia-Ukraine and Israel-Hamas conflicts may be comparable with those in Myanmar, yet the Eurocentric vision and concern of the G7 grouping—which is to meet in Italy’s Puglia on June 14—is betrayed by the fact that the Myanmar conflict is not part of the agenda.
Responding to a query by THE WEEK during a special briefing, India’s Foreign Secretary Vinay Kwatra, while agreeing to the Myanmar conflict’s direct fallout on India in particular and South Asia in general said: “… the developments in Myanmar do directly impact on India. But insofar as its presence in the G7 discussion is concerned, the Summit agenda for G7 is fixed by the G7, and particularly by the host country.”
Beginning on Thursday, the 50th G7 Summit is being hosted by Italy. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is attending the Summit making it his fifth participation in the outreach session of G7 Summits and India’s eleventh. This is also Modi’s first foreign visit in his third successive term as prime minister. The council of ministers were sworn in on June 9.
The civil war in Myanmar was sparked off by a coup led by Senior General Min Aung Hlaing on February 1, 2021. Fearing persecution, thousands of Myanmarese citizens, including government officials, have crossed the India-Myanmar border to enter Mizoram and Manipur after the coup.
Since then, a civil war between the military junta and combined forces of the People’s Defence Forces, Ethnic Armed Organisations and ragtag bands of armed guerrilla fighters have engaged in a seesaw battle that has seen the two sides almost partitioning the ravaged nation into two near-equal parts.
According to the UN’s humanitarian aid agency, since the start of a new junta offensive in October, about 10 lakh people have been displaced adding to the around 30 lakh already internally displaced since the February 2021 coup.
According to the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project (ACLED), a think-tank that specializes in disaggregated conflict data collection, analysis, and crisis mapping—Myanmar is the most violent of the 50 wars it monitors around the world. ACLED has reported a death toll of more than 47,000 people in violence in Myanmar since the coup while pointing out that the figure is ‘conservative’.
The Summit will see the participation of leaders of the seven member states (Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the UK and the USA), as well as the President of the European Council and the President of the European Commission representing the European Union. India is an invitee to the outreach session.
Beginning as an institution with an economic focus, the G7 has gradually become a forum for consultation to find common ground on major global challenges, including peace and security, counter-terrorism, development, education, health, environment and climate change.
