NEW DELHI: Pushing back on criticism he is facing for inviting Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the G7 summit in Alberta this month, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney on Saturday sought to separate the country from the man.

India, he said, was the world’s fifth largest economy and the issues at hand during the June 15-17 summit required its presence at the table.

Addressing a news conference in Ottawa, Mr Carney declined to answer, “if he believed the Indian PM had a role in murder of Sikh activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar,” a local report said.

A Canadian Liberal MP said he intends to raise concerns to Mr Carney about the decision to invite Mr Modi to Canada as part of a meeting of G7 leaders. Mr Sukh Dhaliwal represents the Surrey, B. C., riding where Sikh activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar was killed outside of a temple in June 2023, and whose death Canada has linked to the Indian government, Canada’s National Post reported.

It quoted Mr Dhaliwal as saying he has received dozens of calls and more than 100 emails from constituents expressing concern about Mr Modi’s plans to attend the summit in Alberta, at Mr Carney’s invitation.

Reporting Mr Carney’s invitation, The Wire quoted the Canadian leader as saying that New Delhi had agreed to resume law enforcement dialogue linked to Nijjar’s killing in a way that “recognises issues of accountability,” even as high-profile criminal investigations remain underway.

The news of Mr Carney’s invitation to Mr Modi has gained global interest. The Guardian, among others reported the news conference from Ottawa. “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,” Mr Carney said in response to a question about the justification in annoying a large section of Canadians. The paper said four Indian nationals living in Canada have been charged with Nijjar’s murder.

Mr Carney said because India was the “fifth largest economy in the world, the most populous country in the world and central to supply chains”, it was important to invite the country’s leader despite the continuing investigation to discuss energy, artificial intelligence and critical minerals. Even in welcoming the Indian prime minister, though, Mr Carney may have rubbed Mr Modi’s followers the wrong way. They have started claiming that their country has surpassed Japan to become the world’s fourth largest economy. Independent Indian economists dispute the claim as does Mr Carney, evidently.

“I extended the invitation to Prime Minister Modi and, in that context, he has accepted,” Mr Carney said. Mr Modi said he was glad to receive a call from Mr Carney and congratulated the Liberal leader on his recent electoral victory.

A relieved Mr Modi posted the news of the invitation. “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.

Published in Dawn, June 10th, 2025