India Says Reset with Canada on Agenda, Carney Says Nijjar Probe Raised with Modi

New Delhi: Ahead of the G7 summit, India said on Thursday (June 12) that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Canadian counterpart, Mark Carney, would discuss a reset in ties grounded in mutual “sensitivity”, even as Carney confirmed raising with Modi the ongoing probes into alleged Indian involvement in criminal plots on Canadian soil.

Last week, Carney spoke with Modi and extended an invitation for the forthcoming G7 summit in Kananaskis in western Canada. Modi accepted the invitation, which came just over a week before the summit begins on June 15.

It was a dramatic turnaround in relations that had been frozen for 20 months since former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau alleged that Indians agents were involved in killing Khalistani separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police accused Indian agents of targeting Canadian nationals.

During the weekly briefing on Thursday, external affairs ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said that the forthcoming bilateral meeting between Modi and Carney would “explore pathways to reset the relationship based on mutual respect, shared interests and sensitivity to each other’s concerns”.

He added that India’s views “on some of these issues have already been shared publicly in considerable detail”.

In contrast to Modi’s announcement that only spoke about working together with “renewed vigour”, Carney had to immediately defend his invitation before the media.

“We have now agreed, importantly, to continued law enforcement dialogue. So there’s been some progress on that, which recognises issues of accountability. I extended the invitation to Prime Minister Modi in that context, and he has accepted,” he said last Friday in Ottawa.

When asked about Carney’s mention of a dialogue between security agencies, the Indian foreign ministry spokesperson stated, “There are existing mechanisms between Indian and Canadian law enforcement agencies that have discussed issues of mutual security concern over a period of time. This engagement is likely to continue.”

India had previously claimed on several occasions that Canada had “created an environment for illegal migration and organised criminal activities”. When asked whether India would raise this again, Jaiswal first listed points of commonality with Canada.

“I also [said] that we are two democracies. We are bound by the rule of law. We have an expansive economic engagement. We have large people-to-people connections. We have a big student community there. We have companies invested in both sides. We have technology collaboration, so there's a lot more, lots that can be discussed and for both countries to gain from each other's engagement,” said Jaiswal.

Then, he said that on “anti-India activities, whether it is Canada or anywhere else”, India “expect[s] our international partners to take into account our concerns and act accordingly”.

Meanwhile, Carney is still facing questions about the invitation. In an interview to Radio Canada, he was asked whether he spoke to the Indian PM about the ongoing police probes, including the Nijjar case.

“Yes, I have,” he said, as reported by CBC News.

The Canadian leader added that the legal case will continue and “India knows that”.

He added that Canada had made progress with India bilaterally and that “they are OK with having a legal process between law enforcement entities”.

Carney reiterated that Canada wants to discuss energy security, critical minerals and artificial intelligence with world leaders, and it's “hard to have those discussions without India”.

Ruling Liberal party lawmaker Sukh Dhaliwal, who represents the constituency where Nijjar was killed, had been critical of the invitation. As per Canadian media, he had a meeting with Carney on Wednesday to express his constituents’ concerns.

Dhaliwal said Carney is “very strong” and would represent concerns about Indian interference and transnational crime when speaking to Modi. “I'm saying it's not a good idea, but now he's invited. We have to move forward,” he said.

Canada has listed countering “foreign interference and transnational crime” as a key priority for the upcoming G7 summit.

Besides India, the other non-G7 invitees to the summit are the leaders of Ukraine, Mexico, Australia, Brazil, South Africa, South Korea and the United Arab Emirates.

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