Amid concerning situation in Middle East, G7 Defence Ministers meet in Italy

Napoli: Italian Defence Minister Guido Crosetto convened a meeting of defence ministers for the first time in the Group of Seven (G7)'s history on Saturday in Naples.

The meeting's agenda calls for talking about the major international conflicts and areas of instability in order to identify shared political goals and potential courses of action.

"The priorities indicated by the Italian Presidency of the G7 are characterized by deep defence and security implications, which are assuming ever-greater relevance at this especially sensitive time in history," the Italian G7 Presidency reflected in a statement, IANS reported.

The meeting, being attended by the US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin, includes a session dedicated to the Russia-Ukraine war "an opportunity to reiterate and confirm the unity of the broad international support front for Kyiv", with the firm aim to achieve fair, long-lasting peace.

Italy maintains that the political weight of the G7 could allow for identifying initiatives to overcome the logic of bipolar confrontation and engage in a new peace conference with countries that are not members of the alliances, including from the BRICS and Global South.

A session dedicated to defence, aimed to promote the role of the G7 as an effective consultation forum as well as identify a shared approach to political and economic themes, is also scheduled.

"The concerning situation in the Middle East will also be discussed within the framework of our common commitment to promote de-escalation, achieve a ceasefire in Gaza and support a political process leading to a Two-States solution. Moreover, the whole regional security scenario will be discussed to identify possible lines of actions aimed to prevent and contain growing destabilisation dynamics," the statement added.

It mentioned that, while recognising that Africa offers great potential for establishing partnerships and shared objectives, the G7 defence ministers will also discuss the "complex continental balance" which requires constant focus on drafting a shared development agenda.

The meeting will confirm G7 members' commitment to support African countries along their path toward strengthening democratic and security governance by proposing concrete actions to counter the root causes of instability factors.

The defence ministers will also focus on dynamics in the Indo-Pacific, an area that is assuming an "increasingly decisive role for global political and economic equilibria", and towards which a large number of countries are directly projecting their interests, including in the security sector.