Toronto: Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney extended an invitation to his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi to attend the G7 leaders’ summit in Alberta later this month after consultations with other countries that are part of the group and the belief that New Delhi needed to “be at the table.”
Responding to a question at a press conference, in Ottawa, on Friday, Carney said the G7 will be discussing energy security, digital future, critical minerals and building infrastructure in the emerging and developing world. “There are certain countries that should be at the table for those discussions and in my capacity as G7 chair, in consultation with some others, make those determinations. India is the fifth largest economy in the world, effectively the most populous country in the world, central to, at the heart of those supply chains,” he said.
Carney extended the invitation during the course of a telephone conversation with Modi on Friday. The leaders’ summit will be held from June 15 to June 17 in Kananaskis, a resort in the province of Alberta.
Carney was asked whether US President Donald Trump was involved in those consultations, and he replied in the negative.
He also indicated the India has been more forthcoming in cooperating on the investigation of the killing of pro-Khalistan figure Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Surrey, British Columbia, on June 18, 2023. The G7 summit is scheduled to conclude a day prior to the second anniversary of the murder.
“Bilaterally, we have now agreed, importantly, to continue law enforcement dialogue so there’s been some progress on that,” he said.
He said the invitation had been issued in that context.
He was asked allegations that have appeared in Canadian media about Modi having some role in the Nijjar killing but he said he did not address the matter directly as he pointed out there “is a legal process that is literally underway and quite advanced in Canada and it’s never appropriate to make any comments.”
In November last year, Canada’s National Security and Intelligence Advisor or NSIA Nathalie G Drouin, in a statement, said, “The Government of Canada has not stated, nor is it aware of evidence, linking Prime Minister (Narendra) Modi, (External Affairs) Minister (S) Jaishankar, or NSA (Ajit) Doval to the serious criminal activity within Canada.”
“Any suggestion to the contrary is both speculative and inaccurate,” she added.
The statement was issued by the Privy Council Office. Drouin is also Deputy Clerk of the Privy Council, which is akin to India’s Cabinet Secretariat.
The invitation to Modi was also supported by Conservative Party leader Pierre Poilievre. “India has been at the last six G7 conferences. It’s one of the biggest and fastest-growing economies in the world. We need to sell our natural gas, our civilian nuclear power technology and other resource projects to India,” he said, adding, “We want to see the government work on addressing security issues at the same time when the prime minister has those conversations.”
The move was opposed by the New Democratic Party or NDP and even Liberal Party MP Sukh Dhaliwal. The latter’s riding (as constituencies are called in Canada) Surrey-Newton includes the gurdwara Nijjar led at the time of his death.
