In the midst of a severe diplomatic strain between Canada and India over the murder of Khalistani separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar in British Columbia, the country’s prime minister, Justin Trudeau, met Prime Minister Narendra Modi during a courtesy interaction on the sidelines of the G7 Summit in Italy. A day after the brief exchange, the Canadian PM on Saturday said there was a commitment to work together with India to deal with some “very important issues”.
PM Modi held bilateral meetings with the leaders of several countries, including Italy, France and Japan. However, he held only a courtesy interaction with the Canadian PM. The courtesy meeting comes amid strain over Canada’s allegation that New Delhi’s agents were involved in the murder of Nijjar, who had been declared a terrorist by India. The Canadian allegations were strongly rejected by the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) as “absurd and motivated”. India has accused Canada of fostering anti-India elements.
On Saturday, Trudeau didn’t reveal what transpired during his courtesy meeting with PM Modi. “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 said the leaders had a “brief discussion on the bilateral relationship”, during which Trudeau also congratulated Modi on his re-election. India has been maintaining that the main issue between the two countries is that of Canada giving space to pro-Khalistan elements operating from Canadian soil with impunity. Foreign Secretary Vinay Kwatra on Wednesday said India’s main issue with Canada continues to be the political space that Ottawa provides to anti-India elements which advocate extremism and violence. India has repeatedly conveyed its “deep concerns” to Canada and New Delhi expects Ottawa to take strong action against those elements, he said. Nijjar, who was declared a terrorist by India, was shot dead outside a gurdwara in British Columbia in Surrey on June 18 last year. The murder is being probed by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP).
