Toronto: The possibility of a potential bilateral meeting between US President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the margins of the G7 leaders’ summit evaporated on Monday, as the White House announced Trump would depart early given the tense situation between Israel and Iran.
In a post on X, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said, “President Trump had a great day at the G7, even signing a major trade deal with the United Kingdom and Prime Minister Keir Starmer. Much was accomplished, but because of what’s going on in the Middle East, President Trump will be leaving tonight after dinner with Heads of State.”
Modi’s bilateral meetings schedule has yet to be announced but he arrived in Calgary just as the Heads of State dinner, hosted by Canada’s Governor General Mary Simon ends. A meeting between the two would have been the first since the terror attacks on tourist in Pahalgam and Trump later taking credit, multiple times, for defusing tensions between India and Pakistan using trade sanctions as a bargaining chip.
Modi will participate in the outreach session on Tuesday and hold bilaterals. Trump has skipped the second day of the summit. Trump started the day in Kananaskis meeting with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, chair of the G7 this year. Their bilateral was fairly amicable and Trump later even wore a Canadian flag pin, months after calling for the country to become America’s 51st state. But he also blamed former US President Barack Obama and former Canadian PM Justin Trudeau for keeping Russia out of the global body.
{{/usCountry}}Modi will participate in the outreach session on Tuesday and hold bilaterals. Trump has skipped the second day of the summit. Trump started the day in Kananaskis meeting with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, chair of the G7 this year. Their bilateral was fairly amicable and Trump later even wore a Canadian flag pin, months after calling for the country to become America’s 51st state. But he also blamed former US President Barack Obama and former Canadian PM Justin Trudeau for keeping Russia out of the global body.
{{/usCountry}}Of course, Russia was suspended from what was then the G8 in 2014, a year before Trudeau became PM and during the tenure of his predecessor Stephen Harper.
The discussions with Carney dealt mainly with trade and the two countries agreed “to pursue negotiations toward a deal within the coming 30 days,” as per a readout from the Canadian PMO.