PM Modi gets G7 invite from Canada as Carney eyes to undo damage done by Trudeau

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday said that he has accepted Canada’s invitation to attend the G7 Summit.

Canadian PM Mark Carney called Modi and invited him for the G7 Summit to be held on June 15-17 in Kananaskis in Canada’s Alberta province.

In a post on X, Modi said that he accepted Carney’s invitation and looked forward to a meeting with him on the sidelines of the summit.

This will be the first meeting between the two leaders since the change of guard in Canada earlier this year.

Carney became the Prime Minister of Canada when he won his Liberal Party’s leadership in March after then-PM Justin Trudeau announced his decision to resign. He then led the party in parliamentary elections in April and won, securing a full term as the prime minister.

Modi has attended every G7 Summit as a special invitee since 2019 when French President Emmanuel Macron invited him for the first time. The G7 is the grouping of the most advanced democracies comprising the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, and Japan.

G7 invitation suggests an attempt to reset India-Canada ties

Carney’s invitation to Modi for the G7 Summit is the latest sign that the two countries are working to mend the bilateral relationship after Carney’s predecessor, Trudeau, plunged the India-Canada relationship to an all-time low with his support of the Khalistan movement and his other anti-India activities.

Under Trudeau, the India-Canada relationship fell to an all-time low as he accused India of assassinations, organised violence, and political interference in Canada without evidence, and went after Indian diplomats. He also put his weight behind the anti-India Khalistan movement to secure votes of the Sikh community in the country. He also failed to provide security to Indian missions and diplomats in the country from Khalistani groups’ threats.

Under Carney, however, there appears to be a chance of improving the bilateral relationship. To be sure, the Khalistani movement, which seeks to carve out a Sikh nation out of India , continues to find a safe haven in Canada and anti-India activities have not subsided.

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Last week, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar held talks with Canadian Foreign Minister Anita Anand, who had also served as the Defence Minister of Canada under Trudeau. He said that they discussed the “prospects of India-Canada ties” and Anand described talks as “productive”.

Anand said that talks were focussed on “strengthening Canada-India ties, deepening our economic cooperation, and advancing shared priorities”.

How Trudeau soured India-Canada relationship

In 2023, Trudeau linked the murder of Nijjar, whom India had designated as a terrorist, to the Indian government.

Trudeau also accused Indian diplomats serving in the country of political interference and participating in organised violence. He expelled a senior Indian diplomat serving in the country. India rubbished the charges and expelled a Canadian diplomat serving in India.

That was the beginning of the spiralling downfall of the India-Canada relationship.

To be sure, the India-Canada relationship had been uneasy for years over Trudeau and his government’s active support to the Khalistan movement . Trudeau has attended Khalistani events and has invited known terrorists to official functions. His ministers have similarly endorsed the Khalistan movement. Jagmeet Singh of New Democratic Party (NDP), whose support kept Trudeau’s government in power for years, is also a known Khalistan sympathiser.

As Trudeau continued to level allegations on India and personally target Indian diplomats, India withdrew several diplomats, including High Commissioner Sanjay Verma, to India and expelled several Canadian diplomats serving in India.

In the last few months, however, there have been signs that the two countries have been working to mend ties now that Trudeau and Jagmeet are out of the ruling dispensation in Canada.

The PTI has reported that security officials of Indian and Canada have resumed contacts and both sides are exploring the possibility of restoring high commissioners.

India has maintained that “mutual trust and sensitivity” will be the basis of India-Canada ties.

“The downturn in India-Canada relations was caused by the license that was given to the extremist and secessionist elements in that country,” External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said in March.