Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Donald Trump briefly interacted on Tuesday on the sidelines of the 52nd G7 Summit in Evian, France, marking their first meeting in 16 months.Visuals from the summit showed the two leaders exchanging a handshake and a few words as they joined other world leaders at the venue. Trump was also seen patting PM Modi on the arm during the interaction.The two leaders were also seated next to each other during the summit session.The two leaders last met in Washington on February 13, 2025, when Trump hosted Modi for an official working visit. During the meeting, they launched the “US-India COMPACT” initiative to deepen cooperation in defence, trade and technology, set a target of expanding bilateral trade to $500 billion by 2030, and announced plans to negotiate the first tranche of a bilateral trade agreement. The two sides also agreed to strengthen defence ties through increased military cooperation, technology sharing and co-production of defence equipment.Meanwhile at G7 earlier, French President Emmanuel Macron welcomed PM Modi on his arrival at the venue. The Prime Minister then joined G7 leaders and invited partners for the customary group photograph.Among those present were Trump, Macron, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, European Council President Antonio Costa, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi.PM Modi arrived in France on Tuesday at the invitation of Macron. This marks India’s 13th participation in the G7 Summit as an invited partner country and Modi’s seventh consecutive appearance at the forum.On the sidelines of the summit, the Prime Minister is expected to hold bilateral meetings with several leaders, including Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan.An official meeting between PM Modi and Trump is also expected, with discussions likely to focus on advancing the proposed India-US trade agreement.The G7 outreach session brings together leaders from member countries, partner nations and international financial institutions to discuss global economic challenges, sustainable development and international cooperation.
