PM Modi's visit to Canada comes after a period of friction between New Delhi and Ottawa, triggered by Canadian allegations that Indian agents were involved in the killing of NIA-designated terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar outside a gurdwara in Canada in 2023.India had strongly rejected the allegations
New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will hold bilateral meetings in Canada with his Canadian counterpart and G7 Summit host Mark Carney, Italian counterpart Giorgia Meloni, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
These will begin late on Tuesday night (IST) at Kananaskis, Alberta. Modi, who arrived at Alberta earlier in the day, held “pull-aside” (informal brief bilateral) meetings with South Korean President Lee Jae-Myung and Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum. Like India, both nations are not members of the G-7 but their leaders were invited by Canada as special invitees for the outreach session of the summit.
There will be no bilateral meeting between Modi and United States President Donald Trump who rushed back to Washington a day earlier and thereby skipped the Outreach session which PM Modi will participate in. India and the US are holding tough negotiations for a proposed bilateral trade deal. The Prime Minister will be meeting the G7 leaders at the outreach session for the first time since India launched Operation Sindoor last month to hit terror targets inside Pakistan. This will also be the first opportunity since then to directly convey to the top leadership of the G7 in-person India's recent response to the scourge of terrorism apart from shoring up trade ties.
As India and Canada look to rebuild ties, the bilateral meeting between PM Modi and his Canadian counterpart Carney is expected to comprise a focus on trade ties as well as a "law enforcement dialogue" covering mutual security concerns during which India is expected to strongly push for a crackdown by Canadian authorities on the violent activities of pro-Khalistan elements in Canada who are carrying on an anti-India campaign targeting the Indian community and Indian diplomats there and have also been trying to foment extremism and violence in Punjab in collusion with gangsters.
There were global news agency reports last week that the two nations who are looking to rebuild ties could set up a mechanism to deal with trans-national and cross-border crimes to assuage each other's concerns. Before the outreach session that will take place in the early hours of Wednesday, Modi is scheduled hold a few bilateral meetings late on Tuesday night for more than an hour. Following the session that will last for about two and a half hours, Modi will participate in another round of bilateral meetings for about an hour and a half in the early hours of Wednesday. So there could be more bilateral meetings other than those already confirmed to take place.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt was quoted by media reports as saying, “President Trump had a great day at the G7 … Much was accomplished, but because of what's going on in the Middle East, President Trump will be leaving tonight (for Washington) after dinner with Heads ofState.” According to reports, the flight carrying PM Modi landed at Calgary airport on Monday evening (Canadian time) just as the Heads of State dinner, hosted by Canada's Governor General Mary Simon ended. India not a part of the G7 grouping but, given India's global rise as a major economic power, Modi has been invited for the G7 summit for the seventh consecutive time.
Ties between India and Canada had deteriorated sharply from September, 2023, onwards during the tenure of Carney's predecessor Justin Trudeau who had, as prime minister, accused India of involvement in the killing of Canadian citizen and pro-Khalistan extremist Hardeep Singh Nijjar in June that year on Canadian soil. India had dismissed the Canadian allegations as absurd.
The previous Canadian government led by Trudeau had tried hard to pin the accusations of foreign interference and transnational crime on India using the Nijjar case. Despite Carney wanting to rebuild ties, he will be under pressure to show that he is addressing Canadian national concerns with India. Nevertheless, following Carney's appointment as Canadian Prime Minister on March 14 this year that was followed by his victory in the polls there, “the two sides have been in touch at the level of leaders and senior officials” to rebuild ties. Carney had also called and invited PM Modi earlier this month for the G7 Summit as a special invitee and guest country.
Modi was welcomed by his Canadian counterpart Mark Carney here as the Indian leader arrived for the Outreach Session at the G7 Summit. Modi has said he would be discussing important global issues and emphasise the priorities of the Global South as he meets world leaders at the G7 Summit.
This is Modi's first visit to Canada in a decade. Both sides discussed avenues to further deepen India-Mexico cooperation in trade, pharmaceuticals, S&T, digital innovation and shared perspectives on key global & regional issues, including priorities of the Global South, according to a statement released late night.
