Toronto
AP
–
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney on Friday invited Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Alberta’s G7 Summit later this month.
Last year, countries expelled each other’s top diplomats over the murder of Sikh Canadian activists in Canada and other crime allegations.
The invitation spurred rage from the Canadian World Sikh organization and asked Kearney not to invite Modi in May. Tensions are high between Canada and India over accusations that Indian government agents were involved in the murder of Canadian activists for Sikh separatism in British Columbia in 2023.
Kearney extended the invitation to Modi on Friday with a call between the two leaders. The summit will be held from June 15th to 17th.
Carney said Canada is in the role of G7 Chairman and there is an important debate that India should take part.
“India is the fifth largest economy in the world, the world’s most populous country and the heart of supplying chains,” Carney told reporters, adding that there has been some progress in law enforcement dialogue between the two countries.
“I extended my invitation to Prime Minister Modi and in that context he accepted,” Carney said.
Kearney said there were ongoing legal proceedings in the murder of a Sikh activist in Canada, and when asked by reporters whether he thought Modi was involved, he said he would not comment on the incident.
After Canada told India, the country’s top diplomat was the person interested in assassinating Hardeep Singh Nijjar in 2023, and the police revealed evidence of an intensifying campaign against Canadian citizens by Indian government agents.
Modi said he was happy to receive a call from Kearney and congratulated him on his recent election victory.
“A vibrant democracy bound by deep people and people-bonds, India and Canada will work with a new vitality led by mutual respect and shared interests. We look forward to meetings at the summit,” Modi said in a statement on social media.
Nijar, 45, was fatally shot in a pickup truck after leaving a Sikh temple that led in Surrey, British Columbia. A Canadian Indian-born citizen, he owns a plumbing business and was once the rest of the strong movement to create an independent Sikh homeland.
Four Indian citizens living in Canada have been charged with the murder of Nijar.
Balpreet Singh, a legal counsel and spokesman for the Canadian World Sikh organization, called Carney’s invitation to Modi “a betrayal of Canadian values.”
“The summit where Modi is invited will fall on the anniversary of the assassination of Hardeep Singh Nijjar two years ago,” he said. “So this is unacceptable, shocking and a complete reversal of the principled position that Prime Minister (Justin) Trudeau took.”
Canada is not the only country that has accused Indian officials of planning assassination in foreign soil.
In 2023, US prosecutors said Indian government officials had directed a failed conspiracy to assassinate another Sikh separatist leader in New York.