With less than two weeks of time to start for the start of the G7 summit, Canada is being hosted in Kananaskis in Alberta from 15–17 June, India still has to receive an invitation for the gathering.
If the invitation window is closed, Delhi’s absence at the summit will be the first break since 2019. Stopping 2020, when the G7 Handle was canceled by the US, the host country, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has attended every summit since 2019.
Nobody noticed cold in Delhi-Otawa relations. After the then Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, the two countries reduced diplomatic relations when they established a political storm in 2023, when they accused the “potential” of the Indian government agents in the murder of Khalistan separatist, Hardeep Singh Nizar in Canada. India dismissed the allegations as “absurd” and “inspired”.
Typically, the G7 host countries invite some countries as guest countries or outreach partners. Canada has so far invited Ukraine and Australia. It has not released the names of other guest countries.
France was the host of the G7 Leaders Summit at Biarritz in August 2019 – this was the first invitation after Modi became Prime Minister in 2014.
Earlier, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh attended the G8 Summit five times between 2004 and 2014 – Group became G7 in 2014 after Russia’s suspension, and later on its annexation of Crimea, after exiting.
In 2020, US President Donald Trump called the G7 a “very old group” and said that he wants to include India, Australia, South Korea and Russia into a group of biggest advanced economies. Trump suggested that a group of 7 is called “G10 or G11”, and proposed that groups meet in September or November 2020. But due to epidemic and US elections, this did not happen.
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Modi attended the G7 Summit in 2021 via virtual mode, and then attended Japan in 2023 in Germany in 2022 and the summit in Italy in 2024.
On 25 May, Canadian Foreign Minister Anita Anand interacted with the Foreign Minister’s Jaishankar on a phone. This was the first official political-level contact between Delhi and Ottawa, when Mark Carney won the Canadian election and became Prime Minister, which increased the hope of reset in relations.
Anand said that Canada was ready to rebuild relations with India as part of an attempt to diversify business with the US – even the RCMP investigation in the murder of Canadian Hardeep Singh Nijar continued.
In an interview, referring to Nijar’s murder, he said: “We are definitely taking a step at a time. As I have mentioned, the law’s law will never be compromised, and there is an ongoing investigation about the case you have mentioned.”
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“At the same time, we are moving forward to continue this partnership, and we’re looking forward to a government – it’s not just me … It is part of the process of diversifying our relationships and building relationships around the world,” he said.
Going from the deadline for the G7 Summit – the fact that a very short time is left for an invitation and security and the contact team usually travels to the site before the Prime Minister’s visit – Modi has a thin opportunity to attend the G7 summit, even if the invitation now comes.
But if an invitation is extended, there is a possibility that a minister or a government representative can participate. A call on it will be taken only after receiving the invitation.
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