Energy security a major challenge facing future generation: Modi at G7 meet

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has called for renewed multilateral cooperation in energy and counterterrorism efforts, cautioning world leaders that energy security is emerging as a major challenge facing future generations and terrorism poses a grave threat to humanity.

Speaking at the G7 outreach session in Kananaskis, a scenic mountain region in the Canadian province of Alberta, Modi urged the international community on Monday to support India’s global efforts on clean energy and climate resilience, an official statement from the Prime Minister’s Office said. 

The Prime Minister mentioned promoting solar energy in Sun-rich countries through the International Solar Alliance (ISA), building climate-resilient infrastructure through the Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (CDRI), and promoting biofuels through the Global Biofuels Alliance. 

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Modi also referred to the initiatives India took on promoting sustainable lifestyles and creating a global solar power grid interconnecting the grids across time zones and continents. 

Addressing a session on energy security and infrastructure, Modi thanked Canada’s Prime Minister Mark Carney for his invitation to the event and called for renewed multilateral cooperation on terrorism, inclusive growth, and sustainable technology.

Availability, accessibility, affordability and acceptability are the principles that underpinned India’s approach to energy security, Modi said, adding that India, the world’s fastest-growing major economy, has successfully met its Paris commitments ahead of time.

Modi’s visit to Canada for the G7 meeting indicates that both nations are now willing to normalize bilateral ties after they reached a flash point in 2023 and 2024 following the killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a Canadian citizen and pro-Khalistan separatist, in British Columbia. 

In 2024, former prime minister of Canada Justin Trudeau said agencies were pursuing what he described as credible allegations that agents of the Government of India were directly involved in the killing on Canadian soil, an allegation India dismissed as “preposterous” and “assertions without facts”.

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On 17 June, Canada’s Prime Minister Carney said he and Modi reaffirmed the importance of Canada-India ties, based upon mutual respect, the rule of law, and a commitment to the principle of sovereignty and territorial integrity. 

“The leaders agreed to designate new high commissioners, with a view to returning to regular services to citizens and businesses in both countries,” the statement said. It also added that Carney raised priorities on the G7 agenda, including transnational crime and repression, security, and the rules-based order. 

Modi also said at the energy session that in the age of artificial intelligence (AI), it is important to have secure and resilient supply chains of critical minerals. He emphasised that a technology-led world calls for closer cooperation among countries to realize a sustainable future, and to achieve it, people and planet must be kept at the centre of progress. 

Modi said while AI has become a critical tool to promote efficiency and innovation, the technology itself was energy intensive, and it was important to strategize how to make it sustainable through clean and green initiatives. 

Elaborating on India’s human-centric approach to promoting technology, he noted that any technology to be effective must bring value to the lives of common people, the statement from the Prime Minister’s office said. 

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Modi suggested that addressing AI-related global governance issues was key to tackling the concerns around this technology and to promoting innovation in the field. 

Modi’s suggestions highlight the importance India is giving to climate diplomacy and in championing the voice of the global South.