Carney and Modi meet to reset India-Canada relations

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed hope Tuesday for renewed cooperation with Ottawa as he met with his new Canadian counterpart, Mark Carney.

This comes after a bitter dispute over New Delhi’s alleged involvement in the 2023 assassination of a Canadian Sikh separatist.

“I congratulate him on his great victory and I am confident that together with him India and Canada will work together to make progress in many areas,” Modi said when he met Carney on the sidelines of a G7 summit. 

Carney, who took office in March, said it was “a great honor” to invite Modi to the summit in the Canadian Rockies as a guest of the Group of Seven major economies.

The Canadian leader said he invited India, which is not a G7 member, due to its importance in global supply chains.

According to a statement from Carney’s office, the two leaders “reaffirmed the importance of Canada-India ties, based upon mutual respect, the rule of law, and a commitment to the principle of sovereignty and territorial integrity.”

Modi, Carney agree to name new India-Canada diplomats

They further agreed to name new high commissioners, as ambassadors are known between Commonwealth nations. The key positions will be refilled over a year after the two countries expelled each other’s diplomats over the allegations of the murdered separatist. 

Carney and Modi made this decision “with a view to returning to regular services to citizens and businesses in both countries,” the Canadian prime minister’s office said in a statement.

Spat over killing Hardeep Singh Nijjar

Canada is home to the largest Sikh population outside of India, and this community said that the country should have set conditions before inviting him. On Tuesday, a few dozen Sikh protesters tore apart Indian flags in downtown Calgary.

In 2023, Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a naturalized Canadian citizen and advocate for an independent Sikh state called Khalistan, was fatally shot in the parking lot of a Sikh temple in British Columbia.

Then-Prime Minister Justin Trudeau accused India of being directly involved in the murder. Last year, Canada expelled six Indian diplomats, linking them to the murder and alleging a broader New Delhi effort to target Indian dissidents in Canada. Four men have been charged with Nijjar’s murder.

The Modi government has denied any involvement in the killing and has accused Canada of providing a safe haven for Sikh separatists.