Sikh groups say Ottawa should not invite Indian PM Modi to G7 summit

Dylan Robertson · The Canadian Press

· Posted: May 30, 2025 12:14 PM EDT | Last Updated: 8 hours ago

Sikh organizations are calling connected Ottawa to interruption with a five-year contented by not inviting Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the G7 summit.

Canada is hosting the G7 leaders' acme adjacent period successful Kananaskis, Alta., with the leaders from those nations expected to be — France, United Kingdom, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United States, on with the president of the European Commission.

But Ottawa has been tight-lipped connected which leaders it has invited extracurricular that halfway radical of like-minded wide democracies.

The South African precocious committee told The Canadian Press that Canada invited President Cyril Ramaphosa to be the summit. Ramaphosa, who is hosting the G20 acme this November successful Johannesburg, has not confirmed if helium volition attend.

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said connected May 4 that Canada invited him to the acme and helium volition attend. Canada besides has invited Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to be and helium confirmed again this week helium volition beryllium there.

Modi has been invited to each G7 leaders' acme since 2019, and Canada and India person signalled precocious a imaginable thaw successful relations aft months of tensions.

But the Toronto-based Sikh Federation said this week that Canada should withhold immoderate invitation "until India substantially co-operates with transgression investigations successful Canada."

They constituent to Canada's allegation that New Delhi played a relation successful the assassination of a Sikh activistic adjacent Vancouver successful 2023, and successful galore different convulsive crimes.

The Sikh Federation and the World Sikh Organization person expressed concerns astir the national Liberals seeking deeper ties with India.

Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand said precocious she had a "productive discussion" with her Indian counterpart connected May 25 connected "deepening our economical co-operation and advancing shared priorities."

The Sikh groups reason this suggests the national authorities is putting economical concerns up of quality rights.

The Liberals primitively made India the absorption of their Indo-Pacific strategy successful precocious 2022, describing the state arsenic a antiauthoritarian federation with beardown commercialized potential.

That each changed aft the June 2023 assassination of Sikh activistic Hardeep Singh Nijjar successful British Columbia.

Months later, the authorities accused India of engagement successful his death. The RCMP says it has grounds that New Delhi is down galore crimes targeting Sikh Canadians.

India claims Canada is enabling a separatist question that calls for a Sikh homeland — called Khalistan — to beryllium carved retired of India, and calls that a usurpation of its sovereignty. Ottawa has agelong held that it allows escaped code that doesn't telephone for violence.

Prime Minister Mark Carney said during the predetermination run helium wants to prosecute commercialized with India. He said India could play a cardinal relation successful ending the commercialized wars if it shows "mutual respect" successful airy of "strains connected that narration that we didn't cause."

India's precocious committee referred an interrogation petition connected the bilateral narration to the country's Foreign Ministry successful New Delhi.

Global Affairs Canada hasn't released the names of each person Ottawa has invited to the G7 acme adjacent month. Department spokesperson Camie Lamarche said the names would beryllium "made disposable successful owed time."

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said this week that Canada had invited her astir 2 weeks anterior but she had not yet decided whether she'll attend.

Since the April 28 national election, Carney's bureau has published readouts of discussions with his counterparts from the G7 countries, on with Australia, Ukraine, Mexico, New Zealand, Denmark, Spain, the Netherlands, Poland, Norway and Jordan.

G7 hosts successful caller years person invited 4 oregon much guests. Canada invited a twelve erstwhile it past hosted the acme successful 2018, including Haiti, the Seychelles, Norway and Argentina.