Protests Flare as Canada’s PM Welcomes India’s Modi at G7
(MENAFN) Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney extended a formal welcome to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the G7 summit on Tuesday, brushing aside ongoing controversy and public outcry linked to the 2023 assassination of a Sikh separatist leader in British Columbia.
The summit, hosted in the picturesque mountain town of Kananaskis, drew protests Monday in Calgary—its nearest major city—where several hundred demonstrators rallied against Modi's inclusion. However, by Tuesday, the protest numbers had declined to around 50.
Carney, serving as this year’s G7 chair, defended Modi’s presence at the high-level summit. He argued that India’s economic stature made it unthinkable to leave the country out of global decision-making.
“It is my great honor to have you here,” Carney told Modi during their meeting on the summit's sidelines. The two leaders shook hands and exchanged smiles in a carefully choreographed photo opportunity.
Notably absent from their public remarks was any mention of the murder of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a Canadian citizen and vocal proponent of the Khalistan movement, which seeks to establish an independent Sikh homeland in India’s Punjab region. Nijjar was gunned down outside a Sikh temple in Surrey, B.C., in 2023—a killing that sent diplomatic shockwaves through Ottawa and New Delhi.
At the time, then-Prime Minister Justin Trudeau publicly stated that credible intelligence suggested Indian government involvement in the assassination. India strongly refuted the claim, dismissing it as baseless.
Despite the unresolved tensions, geopolitical shifts and intensifying global trade disputes appear to have nudged both countries toward pragmatic engagement.
Two years after the diplomatic rift, Carney and Modi focused their dialogue on forging collaborations in key sectors such as energy security, artificial intelligence, and counterterrorism. Both leaders emphasized the urgency of combating foreign meddling—an issue that remains top-of-mind in Canadian security circles.
Just days before the summit, the Canadian Security Intelligence Service reiterated that India continues to pose a threat when it comes to foreign interference.
“I’m sure, under your leadership, we will be able to work together in a positive way,” Modi said during the meeting.
Though underlying tensions remain, the encounter underscored a strategic pivot by both nations—choosing cooperation over confrontation in an increasingly fractured world.
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