india

Updated: Aug 23, 2019 23:56 IST

Leaders of the seven richest economies – the G7 – will attend a two-day summit beginning on Saturday at Biarritz, France, where a previously unseen issue may now turn out to be the most prominent: the fires in Amazon.

WHERE THERE’S A FIRE

*Summit host France’s president, Emmanuel Macron, has put climate change centre stage for the event, particularly since the forest fires in South America

*Macron said he believes his Brazilian counterpart Jair Bolsonaro lied to him on Brazil’s stance on climate change, and France will now block a trade deal between the EU and South American nations

*UK, Germany and more EU states have hit out at Brazil’s president for a massive jump in forest fires in Amazon rainforests, which experts have said has been hit by rampant deforestation

*Prime Minister Modi, who will address the gathering on Sunday, is also expected to speak on the issue of climate change and the need for immediate steps

LACK OF COMMON GROUND

*Trade, climate change, exchange rates, government spending, Brexit, dealings with China, Iran and Russia are among issues that the wealthy G7 will deliberate upon, though there is little common ground among the members on any of these issues

*On the sidelines of the summit, US President Donald Trump and PM Modi are also expected to discuss the scrapping of special status of Jammu and Kashmir.