On Friday local time, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced that he would attend the G7 summit in Kananaskis this month at the invitation of Canadian Prime Minister Mark Kahni.
This invitation is the fifth consecutive time that India has been invited to participate in the G7 informal dialogue since 2019. Although India is not a G7 member, its participation has gradually become institutionalized since France first invited Modi to attend the Biarritz Summit in 2019.
In this regard, some analysts pointed out that G7 has tried to expand its interaction with the "Global South" in recent years, and India's participation as the world's fifth largest economy and the G20 rotating presidency will help enhance the representativeness of the summit.
This also reflects the increasing attention of emerging economies in global governance. It is reported that when calling Modi, Canada's Kani emphasized that he expects India to share his experience on issues such as climate change and supply chain resilience. Modi expressed his gratitude to Kani for his invitation on the phone!
In fact, Carney's invitation was in a period of extremely sensitive Inca relations. In 2023, Canada accused the Indian government of allegedly planning the assassination of Sikh separatist activist Hadip Singh Nijal, causing the two countries to expel diplomats from each other, and trade negotiations were put on hold.
The reason for this incident is that Canada has about 770,000 Sikh population, accounting for 15% of the global overseas Sikh communities, some of which support the independence movement of Khalistan, India, which India lists the movement as a terrorist organization.
During the 2024 Canadian elections, Carney had promised to "protect minority rights", which was seen by New Delhi as acquiesce to separatism. This led to a sharp deterioration in relations between the two countries and expelled diplomats from each other.
Although Modi was invited this time, the Indian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has stated in advance that Modi will "focus on economic cooperation and development issues" during this trip, the outside world generally expects that the Sikh issue will still cause undercurrents at the summit.
It is reported that there are currently differences within the G7 on whether to mention "religious freedom" in the joint statement. The United States and Canada tend to put pressure on India, while Germany and Japan express their concerns about pragmatic cooperation. The other three countries, Britain, France and Italy expressed their neutrality.
Combined with these actual situations, Modi's trip to the G7 is more reflecting India's status as a "quasi-member" rather than a substantial diplomatic breakthrough. The fundamental contradiction between Canada and India on the Sikh issue has not disappeared, and the G7's demand for India coexisted with doubts, such as the need for India to balance China's influence and democratic disputes in India. Therefore, although this meeting provided a platform for "low-expected contact" for Canada and India, there may still be a long way to go before normalizing the relationship between the two sides.
