Tokyo: A two-day Group of Seven (G7) summit started at Ise-Shima in Japan on Thursday.
The meeting is being attended by G7 country heads : US President Barack Obama, French President Francois Hollande, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, public broadcaster NHK reported.
Abe is chairing the summit.
The group will first visit Ise Jingu, a huge shrine of Japan's Shintoism.
The leaders are expected to discuss the values of the G7, solidarity and the global economy.
Other subjects will be discussed at five subsequent sessions, including how to sustain global economic growth, the response to terrorism, the refugee crisis and climate change.
The leaders will aim to clearly express their solidarity on policy in their summit declaration on Friday.