Latest news with #CanadaIndiaRelations
CTV News
2 days ago
- Politics
- CTV News
CTV QP: Examining Canada-India relations ahead of G7 Summit
Watch Globe and Mail reporters Robert Fife and Steven Chase weigh in on Canada-India relations with PM Modi set to attend the G7 Summit in Alberta.
National Post
3 days ago
- Politics
- National Post
'They're worried': Liberal MP plans to raise concerns about Modi visit to Carney
OTTAWA — A Liberal MP says he intends to raise concerns to Prime Minister Mark Carney about the decision to invite India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Canada as part of a meeting of G7 leaders later this month. Article content Sukh Dhaliwal represents the Surrey, B.C., riding that was home to Sikh activist and Canadian citizen Hardeep Singh Nijjar, whom Canada said in 2023 was killed by agents acting on behalf of the Indian government. Nijjar was gunned down outside a temple in June 2023. Article content Article content Article content India has denied the accusation but had considered Nijjar to be a terrorist. Nijjar was a prominent activist in the Khalistan movement, which has pushed to establish a separate Sikh state in India's Punjab province. Article content Article content The accusation from former prime minister Justin Trudeau in September 2023 sparked a wave of tension in the Canada-India relationship, including last fall when the RCMP said it believed Modi's government was linked to violence unfolding in Canada, including organized crime and murders. Article content 'They're worried. They're worried about their safety, they're concerned about the justice in Mr. Nijjar's case, as well,' he told National Post in an interview late Friday. Article content Dhaliwal said he has heard from other Liberal MPs also expressing concern, but said he would not divulge details to protect their privacy. Article content Article content He said he intends to raise the concerns he has been hearing from constituents with Carney or members of his team, and will be in Ottawa next week for the ongoing sitting of Parliament. Article content Article content 'He's willing to talk,' Dhaliwal said of the prime minister. Article content 'He's willing to listen to his MPs, that's what he has promised because he has always said that he's interested in the voice from the grassroots, not the message coming from the top to the grassroots.'
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
'They're worried': Liberal MP plans to raise concerns about Modi visit to Carney
OTTAWA — A Liberal MP says he intends to raise concerns to Prime Minister Mark Carney about the decision to invite India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Canada as part of a meeting of G7 leaders later this month. Sukh Dhaliwal represents the Surrey, B.C., riding that was home to Sikh activist and Canadian citizen Hardeep Singh Nijjar, whom Canada said in 2023 was killed by agents acting on behalf of the Indian government. Nijjar was gunned down outside a temple in June 2023. India has denied the accusation but had considered Nijjar to be a terrorist. Nijjar was a prominent activist in the Khalistan movement, which has pushed to establish a separate Sikh state in India's Punjab province. The accusation from former prime minister Justin Trudeau in September 2023 sparked a wave of tension in the Canada-India relationship, including last fall when the RCMP said it believed Modi's government was linked to violence unfolding in Canada, including organized crime and murders. A breakthrough appeared on Friday when Modi confirmed he would be attending the upcoming G7 summit in Alberta, at Carney's invitation. Since then, Dhaliwal says he has received dozens of calls and more than 100 emails from constituents expressing concern. 'They're worried. They're worried about their safety, they're concerned about the justice in Mr. Nijjar's case, as well,' he told National Post in an interview late Friday. Dhaliwal said he has heard from other Liberal MPs also expressing concern, but said he would not divulge details to protect their privacy. He said he intends to raise the concerns he has been hearing from constituents with Carney or members of his team, and will be in Ottawa next week for the ongoing sitting of Parliament. 'He's willing to talk,' Dhaliwal said of the prime minister. 'He's willing to listen to his MPs, that's what he has promised because he has always said that he's interested in the voice from the grassroots, not the message coming from the top to the grassroots.' 'I will certainly raise this with him or his team.' A statement from Carney's office in response to questions from National Post didn't directly address Dhaliwal's concerns, but said 'Canada's sovereignty and national security is paramount.' 'As Prime Minister of the fifth largest economy and the world's most populous country, Prime Minister Modi was invited to participate in these critical discussions,' the statement reads. The prime minister also defended his decision to invite Modi to the G7 at a Friday press conference earlier in the day. He said it was a matter he discussed with other G7 countries and, given that the group plans to discuss issues ranging from energy security to critical minerals and infrastructure, 'there are certain countries that should be at the table for those discussions.' Carney said India is central to a number of supply chains and has the fifth largest economy in the world and the largest population. 'So it makes sense.' Modi said in a statement on social media that 'India and Canada will work together with renewed vigour, guided by mutual respect and shared interests.' Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre backed the decision for Modi to attend, saying Canada needs to work with India on security and trade. Meanwhile, the World Sikh Organization, which advocates for Sikh Canadians, denounced the decision, with its legal counsel, Balpreet Singh, saying it amounts to a 'betrayal.' Carney declined to say on Friday whether he believed Modi was involved in Nijjar's assassination, saying it would be inappropriate for him to comment on the matter given the fact that legal proceedings were underway. Four Indian nationals have been charged in his death. Dhaliwal said he does not support the decision to have Modi in Canada, but said he should offer a 'commitment that his government or his agents of India, will never, ever intervene into the lives of Canadians.' India's prime minister should also agree to 'full cooperation' in the investigation into Niijar's death. Last fall, Canada and India expelled each other's diplomats after it cited RCMP evidence linking Indian government agents to crimes in Canada. Canada had requested that India waive diplomatic immunity to allow police to investigate, which the federal government said did not happen. Carney said on Friday that he and Modi in their discussion agreed to 'law enforcement to law enforcement dialogue. He also noted that 'some progress' had been made on issues of 'accountability.' Dhaliwal said the RCMP has been clear in its concerns about the links between the Indian government and violent crimes taking place in Canada. He also pointed to Justice Marie-Josée Hogue's report into foreign interference that named India as one of the top countries attempting to meddle in Canada's democratic process. The invitation to Modi touches on issues of the rule of law and fundamental rights, he added. 'We cannot sacrifice those values.' National Post staylor@ Mark Carney defends inviting Modi to G7, prompting shock from Sikh organization Carney prepared to sit over the summer to pass new bill to fast-track major projects Get more deep-dive National Post political coverage and analysis in your inbox with the Political Hack newsletter, where Ottawa bureau chief Stuart Thomson and political analyst Tasha Kheiriddin get at what's really going on behind the scenes on Parliament Hill every Wednesday and Friday, exclusively for subscribers. Sign up here. Our website is the place for the latest breaking news, exclusive scoops, longreads and provocative commentary. Please bookmark and sign up for our daily newsletter, Posted, here.
CNN
4 days ago
- Politics
- CNN
Carney invites Modi to G7 summit despite strained ties between Canada and India
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney on Friday invited Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the G7 summit in Alberta later this month, an invitation Modi accepted despite strained ties between the countries. The countries expelled each other's top diplomats last year over the killing of a Sikh Canadian activist in Canada and allegations of other crimes. The invitation prompted anger from the World Sikh Organization of Canada, which wrote to Carney in May asking him not to invite Modi. Tensions remain high between Canada and India over accusations about Indian government agents being involved in the murder of a Canadian activist for Sikh separatism in British Columbia in 2023. Carney extended the invitation to Modi in a phone call between the two leaders on Friday. The summit runs from June 15 to 17. Carney noted Canada is in the role of G7 chair and said there are important discussions that India should be a part of. 'India is the fifth-largest economy in the world, the most populous country in the world and central to supply chains,' Carney told reporters, adding that there has been some progress on law enforcement dialogue between the two countries. 'I extended the invitation to Prime Minister Modi and, in that context, he has accepted,' Carney said. Carney said there is a legal process underway in the killing of the Canadian Sikh activist and said he would not comment on the case, when asked by a reporter if he thought Modi was involved. The tit-for-tat expulsions came after Canada told India that its top diplomat in the country is a person of interest in the 2023 assassination of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, and that police have uncovered evidence of an intensifying campaign against Canadian citizens by agents of the Indian government. Modi said he was glad to receive a call from Carney and congratulated him on his recent election victory. '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,' Modi said in a social media statement. Nijjar, 45, was fatally shot in his pickup truck after he left the Sikh temple he led in Surrey, British Columbia. An Indian-born citizen of Canada, he owned a plumbing business and was a leader in what remains of a once-strong movement to create an independent Sikh homeland. Four Indian nationals living in Canada were charged with Nijjar's murder. Balpreet Singh, legal counsel and spokesperson for the World Sikh Organization of Canada, called Carney's invitation to Modi a 'betrayal of Canadian values.' 'The summit to which Mr. Modi is being invited falls on the anniversary of the assassination of Hardeep Singh Nijjar two years ago,' he said. 'So for us, this is unacceptable, it's shocking and it's a complete reversal of the principled stand that Prime Minister (Justin) Trudeau had taken.' Canada is not the only country that has accused Indian officials of plotting an assassination on foreign soil. In 2023 US prosecutors said an Indian government official directed a failed plot to assassinate another Sikh separatist leader in New York.
BBC News
4 days ago
- Politics
- BBC News
Carney invites Modi to G7, signalling thaw in Canada-India relations
Mark Carney has invited his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi to the upcoming G7 summit in Alberta, marking a shift in Canada-India relations that had soured in recent two spoke over the phone on Friday, during which the Canadian prime minister extended the invite to Modi and agreed to stay in contact, according to a readout released by Carney's confirmed the invite and thanked Carney in a post on X, adding that he looked forward to meeting him at the summit in between the two countries have been strained since former PM Justin Trudeau accused India of carrying out the killing of a Sikh separatist leader on Canadian soil. Hardeep Singh Nijjar was shot and killed outside a Sikh temple he led in Surrey, British Columbia in June 2023. He had been a vocal advocate for the creation of a separate state for Sikhs in India, called Khalistan. India has accused him of being a terrorist and of leading a militant separatist group - accusations his supporters call "unfounded".Four Indian nationals have since been arrested and charged in connection to Mr Nijjar's alleged that agents of the Indian government were involved in the killing, while the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) said it had strong evidence that India was involved in orchestrating campaigns of violence and extortion on Canadian strongly rejected the allegations, calling them "preposterous", and the row led both Canada and India to expel their top envoys along with other defended his decision to invite Modi despite the allegations while speaking to reporters on Friday. While India is not a member of the G7, Modi has attended meetings at previous summits. Carney, who is chairing this year's G7 summit, said key discussions will be held that "certain countries" should be at the table readout said Carney and Modi agreed to "continued law enforcement dialogue and discussions addressing security concerns" surrounding the if he believed Modi was involved in the killing of Mr Nijjar, Carney said it was not appropriate to comment on an ongoing legal decision to invite Modi was condemned by some members of Canada's Sikh community. The World Sikh Organisation called it a "betrayal of Sikh Canadians" in a statment, while the Sikh Federation of Canada called it "a grave insult".Mr Nijjar was prominent in British Columbia's Sikh community. Supporters of his have said that he was the target of threats in the past because of his activism over Khalistan.A trial date has not yet been set for the four men accused of killing Mr G7 summit is set to take place between 15 and 17 June in Kananaskis, Alberta. Topics on the agenda, according to the summit's website, include "international peace and security," "global economic stability," and the "digital transition".Alongside India, Carney has also extended an invite to Mexico's President Claudia Sheinbaum - though she said in late May that she was undecided on whether to Volodymyr Zelensky and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese will attend.A full list of invitees has not yet been released.
