PM Modi conducted bilateral meetings with leaders from several countries, including Italy, France, and Japan. However, his interaction with the Canadian PM was limited to a courtesy meeting.
In the midst of severe diplomatic tension between Canada and India over the murder of Khalistani separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar in British Columbia, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau met with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi during a courtesy interaction at the G7 Summit in Italy. A day after the brief exchange, Trudeau expressed a commitment to work together with India on "very important issues."
PM Modi conducted bilateral meetings with leaders from several countries, including Italy, France, and Japan. However, his interaction with the Canadian PM was limited to a courtesy meeting. PM Modi later posted a brief message saying, "Met Canadian PM Justin Trudeau at the G7 Summit."
The courtesy meeting occurred amidst allegations from Canada that Indian agents were involved in the murder of Nijjar, who had been declared a terrorist by India. The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) in India strongly rejected these allegations, calling them "absurd and motivated."
India has accused Canada of fostering anti-India elements. On Saturday, Trudeau did not divulge details about his conversation with Modi but emphasized a commitment to collaboration. "I'm not going to get into the details of this important, sensitive issue that we need to follow up on, but this was a commitment to work together, in the coming times, to deal with some very important issues," Trudeau told reporters.
The Canadian Prime Minister's Office mentioned that the leaders had a "brief discussion on the bilateral relationship," during which Trudeau also congratulated Modi on his re-election. Ann-Clara Vaillancourt, a spokesperson for Trudeau said, "Of course, there are important issues between our two countries right now. You can appreciate that we won't be making any further statements at this time."
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India did not release a separate statement regarding PM Modi's interaction with Trudeau. New Delhi has consistently maintained that the main issue between the two countries is Canada's accommodation of pro-Khalistan elements and expects Ottawa to take strong action against these groups.