Q.Procure a photograph of SAARC/G-7 summit meeting, list attendees. Why those people and not others?

Who attends a SAARC or G-7 summit for each country depends on which office actually holds executive/foreign-policy power in that country's system, not simply who holds the most senior formal title. …

This activity asks you to actually find and examine a real photograph (a newspaper archive, a government website, or an image search for 'SAARC summit' or 'G-7 summit' plus a recent year would work), and then list who is in it. Once you have the photograph, you should be able to identify: (i) the country each attendee represents, and (ii) which office that person holds in their own country's government.

The key insight the chapter wants you to draw out is this: countries send different kinds of leaders to represent them at the same summit, because they have different types of executive. A country with a presidential system (like the USA) sends its President, who is both Head of State and Head of Government combined. A country with a parliamentary system (like the UK, Canada, Japan, or India) typically sends its Prime Minister, the real head of government, rather than its ceremonial Head of State (a monarch or President) — because it is the Prime Minister who actually directs foreign policy and government business, even though the country's formal Head of State is someone else. A country with a semi-presidential system (like France or Sri Lanka) might send its President, since the President there holds real, independent powers (unlike a purely ceremonial President). …