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Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi says Prime Minister Mark Carney has invited him to the G7 summit later this month in Alberta, making his first visit to Canada since the RCMP accused his government of acts of murder, extortion and coercion.
In a social media post on Friday, Modi wrote that Carney called him and extended an invitation to the gathering in Kananaskis in just over a week.
“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,” wrote Modi.
“Look forward to our meeting at the summit.”
Leaders from the G7 countries — Canada, France, United Kingdom, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States — along with the president of the European Commission are heading to the western province for high-level meetings.
Other leaders are often invited for side meetings. Modi, head of one of the fastest-growing economies in the world, has been invited to every G7 leaders’ summit since 2019.
Carney has been under pressure to break with that tradition.
Earlier this week, the Toronto-based Sikh Federation said Canada should withhold any invitation “until India substantially co-operates with criminal investigations in Canada.”
Last fall, the head of the RCMP laid out allegations accusing agents of the Indian government of playing a role in “widespread violence” in Canada, including homicides, and warned that it poses “a serious threat to our public safety.”
RCMP Commissioner Mike Duheme said his officers, working with other law enforcement agencies, have obtained evidence linking Indian government agents to homicides and other violent acts in Canada, including coercion and extortion.
The previous year, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced Canada had evidence linking Indian agents to the killing of Canadian Sikh separatist leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar.
New Delhi has denied the allegations.
During the recent federal election campaign, Carney called the Canadian-Indian relationship “incredibly important.”
“There are strains on that relationship that we didn’t cause, to be clear,” he said. “But there is a path forward to address those with mutual respect.”