Modi likely to meet Canadian PM on sidelines of G7 summit
MEA said Modi’s meeting with Carney on the margins of the G7 Summit will be an opportunity to reset India-Canada ties based on ‘mutual respect, shared interests, sensitivity to each other’s concerns’
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to meet his Canadian counterpart Mark Carney, the first time since the latter assumed office in March, on the margins of the G7 summit on Tuesday, Canadian media reports said.
The two leaders are likely to hold a “one-on-one meeting”, Canadian news outlet The Globe and Mail reported.
Modi is scheduled to arrive in Calgary on Monday evening and travel to the summit venue, the resort of Kananaskis on Tuesday morning, for a G7 outreach session.
The external affairs ministry said Modi’s meeting with Carney on the margins of the G7 Summit will be an opportunity to reset India-Canada relations based on “mutual respect, shared interests and sensitivity to each other’s concerns”. This will also be Modi’s first visit to Canada in a decade.
Canada’s minister of foreign affairs Anita Anand, during a press conference in Calgary on Sunday, addressed the issue of the killing of pro-Khalistan figure Hardeep Singh Nijjar in 2023 which led to bilateral ties hitting an all-time low.
“On the bilateral front, it is fundamentally important to realise and to continue to recognize that the rule of law and system of investigation that the RCMP is undertaking will not compromised,” Anand said.
“There is a law enforcement dialogue which is occurring between the two countries now,” she added.
India-Canada ties nose-dived when former Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau alleged in September 2023 that Indian agents were linked to the murder of Khalistani separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar. India dismissed the charge as “absurd” and subsequently accused the Canadian government of giving space to separatists and radical elements that pose a threat to Indian diplomats and interests.
As bilateral ties hit an all-time low over the past year, both sides expelled diplomats and downgraded ties. Modi and Carney had their first phone call on June 6, when the Indian leader accepted an invitation to attend the G7 Summit. The two sides are also close to appointing new envoys to each other’s capitals.
Following Carney’s appointment on March 14, the two sides have been in touch at the level of leaders and senior officials. There have also been meetings between senior security officials, including the National Investigation Agency (NIA) on the Indian side and the National Security Intelligence Advisor, Royal Canadian Mounted Police, and Canadian Security Intelligence Services on the Canadian side.
Both countries are aiming for a reset in the troubled relationship and that could also return India to its position as a significant factor in Canada’s Indo-Pacific Strategy.
Among the nations at the G7, as many as four – Japan, India, Korea and Australia – are from the region, while another, Indonesia was unable to participate. Global Affairs Canada, the country’s foreign ministry, has recently been highlighting that strategy.
That is part of Canada’s “review of foreign policy in general to reduce dependence on the United States, “ Vina Nadjibulla, the Asia-Pacific Foundation of Canada’s vice-president, research and strategy, said, adding, “It shows Carney wants to diversify Canada’s economic and security partnerships.”
