Indian PM Modi to Attend G7 Summit in Canada

After a breakdown of relations between Canada and India under the previous Liberal government, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be visiting Canada for the G7 summit in mid-June.

Modi and Prime Minister Mark Carney both confirmed Modi’s attendance in separate announcements on June 6.

“As vibrant democracies bound by deep people-to-people ties, India and Canada will work together with renewed vigour, guided by mutual respect and shared interests,” Modi said in a social media post, adding that he’s “looking forward” to meeting Carney at the summit.

Modi said he had received a call from Carney and thanked him for the invitation to the summit.

Shortly after Modi made the post, the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) confirmed the matter in a statement. The PMO said the call between the two leaders took place on June 6.

The statement also mentions “deep people-to-people ties” and adds the mention of “significant commercial links.”

“Importantly, there was agreement to continued law enforcement dialogue and discussions addressing security concerns,” added the PMO, a direct reference to the turmoil that has marked the bilateral relations in recent years.

The Canadian government has accused Indian agents of being involved in violent criminal activities in Canada. Speaking to reporters on June 6, Carney explained his decision to invite Modi, saying discussions at the G7 summit will focus on energy security and critical minerals.

“India, the fifth largest economy in the world, effectively the most populous country in the world, is central to a number of those supply chains,” he said. Carney added that the law enforcement dialogue with India has made “some progress” that “recognizes issues of accountability.” Carney did not speak on ongoing criminal investigations linked to India, saying it would be inappropriate for him to comment on a legal process.

Former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau had accused India in September 2023 of having a hand in the murder of a pro-Khalistan activist in British Columbia that had taken place months earlier.

“Canadian security agencies have been actively pursuing credible allegations of a potential link between agents of the government of India and the killing of a Canadian citizen Hardeep Singh Nijjar,” Trudeau said in the House of Commons on the first day of Parliament after the summer break that year.

New Delhi had responded by calling the allegations “absurd and motivated.”

“Such unsubstantiated allegations seek to shift the focus from Khalistani terrorists and extremists, who have been provided shelter in Canada and continue to threaten India’s sovereignty and territorial integrity,” said the Indian Ministry of External Affairs at the time.

India has long accused Canada of not cracking down on pro-Khalistan activists, who seek to carve out an independent Sikh nation in the Punjab region of India.

Tensions between Ottawa and New Delhi escalated when Ottawa expelled six Indian diplomats, including the high commissioner, in October 2024, saying the RCMP had linked them to the Nijjar case.

“The decision to expel these individuals was made with great consideration and only after the RCMP gathered ample, clear and concrete evidence which identified six individuals as persons of interest in the Nijjar case,” then-Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly said on Oct. 14, 2024.

The RCMP on the same day had also held a news conference to disclose information from its criminal investigations on India-linked activity. The police force said it had uncovered “links tying agents of the Government of India (GOI) to homicides and violent acts” in Canada.

India’s top diplomat, Sanjay Kumar Vermam, had rejected the allegations before departing, calling them “politically motivated.” When asked by reporters if he played any role in the shooting death of Nijjar he said he had “nothing at all” to do with the case. Nijjar at the time was organizing a non-binding referendum on secession from India to create a Khalistani state. He was gunned down in Surrey by two masked gunmen on June 18, 2023.

The federal government subsequently leaked information to the Washington Post saying that Modi’s national security adviser had allegedly authorized attacks against Sikh separatists in Canada. Top security and foreign affairs officials later confirmed providing the information to the U.S. media outlet.

Modi’s visit signals the Canadian government is willing to put these events aside and work on rebuilding the broken relationship.

The summit of G7 leaders will be held in Kananaskis, Alta., from June 15 to 17.