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Britain's Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab, London, Britain, May 2, 2021. /Reuters
Britain this week will host the first face-to-face meeting of G7 foreign ministers in two years, joined by U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, as world powers tackle pandemic recovery and other issues.
The COVID-secure gathering in London will prepare the ground for a G7 summit in southwest England next month, which will mark Joe Biden's inaugural visit to Europe as U.S. president. Both events will also be joined by Indian leaders.
Many of the G7 nations have rallied to India's aid as the South Asian nation confronts a terrifying surge of coronavirus cases, although the pandemic is ebbing elsewhere in the West thanks to mass vaccination drives.
After its Brexit withdrawal from the European Union, Britain is reorienting its foreign policy towards the Asia-Pacific region, and British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab will also play host this week to ministers from Australia, South Korea and the ASEAN bloc.
A rapid rebuttal mechanism is also expected to be established to address messages from Russia, said Raab.
Blinken is en route to Ukraine this week to pledge "unwavering" U.S. support after Russian troops had massed on its border.
The G7 includes Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States, plus the EU. In addition to the Asia-Pacific guests, South Africa will attend this week and June's summit.
The last in-person meeting of foreign ministers from the world's leading economic powers took place in the seaside resort of Dinard, northwest France, in April 2019.
When the G7 ministers reconvene for formal talks on Tuesday and Wednesday, they will have an on-site testing facility and Perspex screens to separate them in meetings, and Britain has enforced limits on the size of each delegation.
"The meetings will be a demonstration of how to conduct diplomatic business safely and successfully as we recover from the pandemic," the Foreign Office said.
(With input from AFP)
