APULIA (Canada): Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said that he will have more to say regarding next year’s G7 Summit when Canada will assume its presidency.
Speaking to reporters, he appreciated the keenness with which Canadians are looking forward to the G7 Summit. Trudeau said that he looks forward to working with Italian PM Giorgia Meloni and all G7 partners on various issues that they have discussed.
On being asked whether Canada will invite Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the G7 Summit in 2025, Trudeau responded, “I can appreciate the keenness with it 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 and I look forward to working with Prime Minister Meloni and all my G7 Partners on the broad range of issues that we’ve talked about. I will have more to say about next year’s G7 when we assume the G7 Presidency next year.”
The G7 summit was held in Italy’s Apulia region from June 13-15, where India was invited as an ‘Outreach Country’ and had participation from the seven member countries, the US, UK, Canada, Germany, Italy, Japan, and France, as well as the European Union.
The next G7 Leaders’ Summit will be hosted in Kananaskis, Alberta province of Canada in 2025. In a post on X, Canadian PM Justin Trudeau stated, “Just announced: The next @G7 Leaders’ Summit will be hosted here in Canada — in Kananaskis, Alberta — in 2025.”
Trudeau’s statement came after he met Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the sidelines of the G7 Summit in Italy’s Apulia on Friday. The meeting between the two leaders was the first amid strained diplomatic ties between India and Canada.
In a post on X, PM Modi had stated, “Met Canadian PM @JustinTrudeau at the G7 Summit.”
The ties between the two nations were strained after Trudeau accused the “agents of the Indian government” of killing terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Canada last year. However, India has dismissed the accusations as “absurd” and “motivated.”
Nijjar, who was designated a terrorist by India’s National Investigation Agency in 2020, was shot and killed outside a Gurdwara in Surrey in June last year.
India has said that Canada has not provided any “specific” evidence or relevant information in the Hardeep Singh Nijjar killing case.
Earlier in May, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar denied receiving any evidence implicating Indian nationals’ involvement in the killing in Canada of India-designated terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar.
Responding to media queries here, Jaishankar stated, “I also read that another arrest has been made. If that person is an Indian national, then usually by consular practice, you inform the government or the embassy of the country of origin. But beyond that, we have long maintained that if anything, any event in Canada, any violence in Canada, has any evidence or information which is relevant to be investigated in India, we are open to investigating it.”
He emphasised that while any Indian national’s arrest would usually prompt notification to the government or embassy, no specific evidence justifying investigation by Indian agencies has been received to date.
“But to date, we have never received anything which is specific and worthy of being pursued by our investigative agencies. And I’m not aware anything has changed in the last few days in that regard,” Jaishankar said at a media interaction at a seminar on Indian Capital Markets ‘Roadmap for Viksit Bharat’ at the National Stock Exchange (NSE) in Mumbai.
His remarks came after the Canadian Police arrested a fourth suspect over his alleged involvement in the killing of Nijjar. The accused has been identified as Amandeep Singh (22), Canada-based CBC News reported.
According to the Integrated Homicide Investigation Team (IHIT) in British Columbia, Singh was already in the custody of Peel Regional Police in Ontario for unrelated firearms charges.
The police said that Singh is an Indian national, splitting his time in Canada in Brampton, Ontario; Surrey, British Columbia, and Abbotsford, British Columbia, as reported by CBC News.
Investigators have not shared any further details of the arrest, citing ongoing investigations and court processes. The development came days after the Canadian police arrested three Indian nationals — Karan Brar, Kamalpreet Singh and Karanpreet Singh — in Edmonton. The trio was charged with first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder in relation to the homicide. (ANI)
About the Author
