India, Canada return ambassadors as Carney, Modi look past spat

KANANASKIS, Canada: India and Canada agreed Tuesday (Jun 17) to return ambassadors to each other's capitals, turning the page on a bitter spat over an assassination as Canada's new leader welcomed counterpart Narendra Modi.

Prime Minister Mark Carney, who took office in March, invited Modi to the Canadian Rockies as a guest at the summit of the Group of Seven major economies.

Carney's predecessor Justin Trudeau last year publicly accused India of involvement in the assassination of a Sikh separatist on Canadian soil and expelled the Indian ambassador, triggering a furious reciprocal response from India.

Carney and Modi agreed that the two countries would name new high commissioners, as ambassadors are known between Commonwealth nations.

Carney said he hoped the meeting would "provide the necessary foundations to begin to rebuild the relationship, based on mutual respect, sovereignty, trust."

"I would describe it as foundational – as a necessary first step, a frank, open exchange of views around law enforcement, transnational repression," he told a news conference.

He noted that India is invited each year to G7 summits of major industrial democracies, pointing to the size of its economy.

The row had severely impeded diplomatic services between the two countries, which traded US$9 billion in 2023 and have close cultural ties due to the vast Indian diaspora in Canada.

Canada had to suspend in-person services at all missions in India outside its embassy in New Delhi.

POLITICALLY SENSITIVE

Modi took a conciliatory tone as he met Carney at the mountain resort, saying that both Canada and India were "dedicated to democratic values".

"The relationship between India and Canada is very important in many ways," Modi said.

He congratulated Carney on guiding his Liberal Party to an election victory and said: "I am confident that together ... India and Canada will work together to make progress in many areas."

Sikh protesters rallied on the streets of Calgary, the closest large city to the summit, as many criticised Carney's inclusion of Modi, who is accustomed to invitations to major international gatherings despite criticism of his Hindu nationalist government's human rights record.

The left-wing New Democratic Party, the fourth largest party in parliament which is not formally part of Carney's government, denounced the invitation to Modi and pointed to allegations of Indian surveillance against its former leader Jagmeet Singh, who is Sikh.

"Continuing to engage Modi's government without accountability undermines all efforts to defend human rights, transparency, and the rule of law," it said in a statement before the visit.

Canada is home to the largest Sikh population outside India. With some 2 per cent of the Canadian population and clustered in suburban swing areas, the community has exerted growing political influence.

Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a naturalised Canadian citizen who advocated for an independent Sikh state called Khalistan, was shot dead in the parking lot of a Sikh temple in British Columbia in 2023.

Trudeau accused India of direct involvement. Canada has accused India of directing a broad campaign of intimidation against Sikh activists in the country.

India denied involvement in the killing and said Canada should take more action against violent advocates for Khalistan, which has been reduced to a fringe movement inside India.

The United States, which has a warm relationship with India, also accused an Indian agent of involvement in an unsuccessful plot against a Sikh separatist on US soil but addressed concerns more quietly than Trudeau.