Canada, India Agree to Work on ‘Very Important Issues,’ Trudeau Says After Meeting With PM Modi

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau (3rd R) and Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi (L) take part in a family photo during the G7 Summit in Savelletri Di Fasano, Italy on June 14, 2024. Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press

Amid strained relations with India, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says his meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi has led to their agreement to work on some “important issues.”

The two leaders met on the sidelines of the G7 Summit in Italy last week.

Mr. Modi posted a photo of the two shaking hands on social media on June 15, with a short a simple message saying he had met with Mr. Trudeau.

Meanwhile, Mr. Trudeau did not publicize the meeting. A “review” of the G7 meeting posted on the social media account for the prime minister does not show Mr. Modi. The Prime Minister’s Office also didn’t release a readout of the meeting and didn’t respond to a request for comment.

Reporters pressed Mr. Trudeau to provide details on what was discussed with Mr. Modi during a post-summit press conference on June 15, but the prime minister said he would not recount any details.

“There’s important but sensitive issues that we need to follow up on,” he said. “But this was a commitment to work together in the coming times to deal with some very important issues.”

Mr. Trudeau did not say who initiated the interaction with Mr. Modi, nor whether he received any assurances India would cooperate in the investigation of the killing of Sikh activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar.

Mr. Nijjar was killed by gunmen in June last year outside a gurdwara in B.C., as he was organizing an unofficial referendum for the creation of an independent Sikh state from India.

Mr. Trudeau said in the House of Commons on the first day of the new legislative session last September, that there were “credible allegations” that Indian government agents were potentially involved in the murder of Mr. Nijjar.

The Indian government called the allegations “absurd and motivated.” In November 2023, the U.S. said it foiled an assassination plot against an ally of Mr. Nijjar, which allegedly involved an Indian official. New Dehli said in April there is an ongoing investigation into the issue.

Suspects in the murder of Mr. Nijjar were arrested in May and are awaiting trial.

The murder of the Sikh activist and the allegations of Indian involvement has derailed bilateral relations at a time when Canada and India were working on a trade deal.

India is identified as a “critical partner” in Canada’s Indo-Pacific Strategy, due to its democratic system and its growing economic, strategic, and demographic importance. Meanwhile, the strategy identifies China as an “increasingly disruptive global power.”

Mr. Trudeau would not say whether he would follow his Italian counterpart in inviting Mr. Modi to the G7 Summit next year in Kananaskis, Alta.

“I can appreciate the keenness with which Canadians are looking forward to next year’s G7, however, Italy continues to be the president of this G7 for the rest of this year,” he said. “I will have more to say about next year’s G7 when we assume the presidency next year.”