Olive Branches All Around

Canada, the current chair of G7, had inordinately delayed an invitation to the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to attend the group’s summit to be held from June 15 to 17 in Alberta.

The inordinate delay gave rise to outrage in India, which views itself as an emerging power about to be on par with the advanced nations of the Western bloc. Political analysts wondered if the rich and the powerful of the world had lost interest in India for one reason or the other.

India’s relationship with the G7 had clearly soured. Countries which were showering praise on India till recently, and vigorously motivating it to be their arm to counter China in South Asia, now appeared to doubt its credentials. They wondered if India had become too big for its boots and if they had put their eggs in the right basket.

Although India had been a regular invitee to the G7 summits for years, and its Prime Ministers had attended most of them, this year, for a long time, it looked as if the G7 had decided not to invite India.

Despite being a strategic ally of the US, India was trading with Russia and Iran, challenging US sanctions. It allegedly had a hand in a cross border assassination in Canada and an attempted assassination in the US. The Australians had accused India of trying to influence the voting behaviour of the members of the Indian Diaspora. Canada and India had expelled each other’s top diplomats in 2024 over an assassination case involving a Sikh Canadian national in Canada.

There is a case in Canada about an Indian involvement in the assassination of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a Canadian citizen, on Canadian soil. An Indian hand was seen in a bid to assassinate US citizen Gurpatwant Singh Pannu in the US.

Both Nijjar and Pannu were dubbed in India as separatists fighting for an independent Sikh Sate of Khalistan. For the nationalistic Indian public, the alleged Indian bid to kill them was perfectly kosher as they were trying to destroy the territorial integrity of India. But for the West, these were cases of cross border terrorism, and a violation of their citizen’s rights.

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police accused Modi’s government of “acts of murder, extortion and coercion.” Canada’s federal police said that the murder of a prominent Sikh activist in British Columbia was orchestrated by the “highest levels” of the Indian government.

The West was also not happy with Modi for escalating the India-Pakistan armed conflict early in May to the point of creating a fear of a nuclear clash. This fear resulted in a swift and effective American intervention, which resulted in a ceasefire. Key elements in the West were of the view that India had blamed Pakistan for the terror strike on April 22 without presenting cast iron evidence to the international community. It had also immediately precipitated a major military clash, that saw China quickly throwing its weight behind Pakistan that added a new and dangerous dimension to the security environment in South Asia.

It was only on June 6, that Canada relented and sent an invitation to Modi for the G7. According to a readout from the Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney’s Office, the two leaders spoke on the phone and Carney extended an invitation to the gathering in Alberta.

The readout said that the two leaders discussed the “longstanding relationship between Canada and India, including deep people-to-people ties and significant commercial links. Importantly, there was agreement to continued law enforcement dialogue and discussions addressing security concerns.”

Thus, Carney did get Modi’s word about cooperation in the criminal investigations now on in the Nijjar assassination case.

But Carney’s decision prompted an outraged response from the World Sikh Organization. “For Sikhs in Canada, this is a betrayal, not just of our community, but of core Canadian values. Prime Minister Carney’s decision to invite Narendra Modi, while India continues to deny any role in the assassination of Bhai Hardeep Singh Nijjar and refuses to cooperate with Canadian authorities, is both shameful and dangerous,” its president, Danish Singh, said in a statement.

“We would never welcome leaders from Russia, China, or Iran under such circumstances. Yet India has done far more on Canadian soil in terms of foreign interference and transnational repression, including orchestrating murders, and is being rewarded with a red carpet welcome.”

On Friday, Carney declined to answer reporters’ questions over whether he believed that India’s establishment had a role in the assassination of Hardeep Singh Nijjar. He said- “There is a legal process that is literally under way and quite advanced in Canada, and it’s never appropriate to make comments with respect to those legal processes.”

Four Indian nationals living in Canada have been charged with Nijjar’s murder.

Carney justified his step to make up with India saying- “India is the fifth largest economy in the world, the most populous country in the world and central to supply chains. It is important to invite the country’s leader despite the continuing investigation to discuss energy, artificial intelligence and critical minerals. I extended the invitation to Prime Minister Modi and, in that context, he has accepted,” Carney said.

On his part, Modi said he was glad to receive a call from Carney and congratulated the Liberal leader on his recent electoral 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 statement from New Delhi.

Meanwhile, New Delhi went into damage-control mode with the US as well. During the four-day India-Pakistan military conflict early May, “strategic partners” New Delhi and Washington drifted away from each other. US President Donald Trump’s jumping the gun by announcing a ceasefire before India or Pakistan did, and his stating that he would mediate on the sensitive issue of Kashmir, embarrassed India. While the government was silent, the Indian media and the opposition tore Modi’s foreign policy apart.

However, many American commentators predicted that the “China factor” will result in the two coming together again. It was also noted that while Trump was shooting his mouth, State Department officials were either quiet or circumspect. And the belief was that, ultimately, it is the State Department which will determine American foreign policy.

To minimise the damage done to India’s foreign policy, the Modi government sent several all-party delegations to various countries to explain India’s stand on the war, cross border terrorism and Kashmir.

The Modi government also sent Vikram Misri, the articulate and erudite Foreign Secretary, to Washington. Misri is on a three-day visit to Washington. On Thursday, he met the US Deputy Secretary of State, Christopher Landau.

“The visit is likely an effort to smooth out some tensions creeping into the U.S.-India relationship,” wrote Michael Kugelman in Foreign Affairs.

“The imperatives of strategic and commercial partnership remain strong, and Misri’s visit could help move the needle on getting the two sides closer to a phase-one agreement on a bilateral trade deal,” Kugelman added.

After a visit to Washington by Indian Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal, negotiations are reportedly entering the final leg, with a US delegation due in India next month, the American expert noted.