Roving Periscope: PM Modi to attend G7 Summit in Canada; may reset ties
Virendra Pandit
New Delhi: With Prime Minister Narendra Modi accepting an invitation from his Canadian counterpart Mark Carney to attend to G7 Summit, the two democracies are expected to start resetting their bilateral ties that have remained tense since 2023.
Discussions during the G7 Summit 2025, scheduled from June 15 to 17 at Kananaski, Canada, will focus on security, energy, and digital future issues, PM Carney said, adding that India’s presence at the intergovernmental political and economic forum is essential.
“Let’s put the two aspects in context- the first is, Canada’s in the role of the G7 chair and, as agreed with our G7 colleagues, the discussions will include those on energy, security, digital future, and critical minerals, amongst others, and partnerships actually in building infrastructure in the emerging and developing world,” he said.
India is central to a number of supply chains, which makes its presence pertinent at the G7 chair consultation, he said.
“There are certain countries that should be at the table for those discussions, and in my capacity as G7 chair, I will consult with some others to make those determinations. India is the fifth largest economy in the world, effectively the most populous country in the world, central to a number of those supply chains at the heart of a number of those supply chains. So, it makes sense,” he said.
Carney said that India and Canada are acting on law enforcement, and Prime Minister Narendra Modi has accepted his invitation.
“In addition, bilaterally, we have now agreed importantly to continued law enforcement to law enforcement dialogue. So there’s been some progress on the issues of accountability. I extended the invitation to Prime Minister Modi in that context and he has accepted it,” he said.
PM Modi on Friday confirmed that he would attend the upcoming Group of Seven (G7) Summit in Canada after an invitation from the newly-elected Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney.
“Glad to receive a call from Prime Minister Mark J. Carney of Canada. Congratulated him on his recent election victory and thanked him for the invitation to the G7 Summit in Kananaskis later this month. 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. Look forward to our meeting at the Summit,” he said in a post on X (formerly Twitter).
The announcement comes after severely strained relations between the two countries, triggered by Canadian allegations that Indian agents were involved in the June 2023 assassination of Hardeep Singh Nijjar—a Canadian citizen and prominent pro-Khalistan activist—outside a Gurdwara in Vancouver.
India strongly denied the claims, and both nations expelled senior diplomats in a tit-for-tat escalation.
Canada has also invited South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, and Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum.
The G7 Group includes Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States.
It has met regularly since the mid-1980s at the finance minister and central bank governor level.
