PM Modi arrives in Canada for G7 Summit, set to discuss energy and tech issues

Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived here to attend the G7 Summit at Kananaskis, his first visit to Canada in a decade, with discussions with world leaders to be focussed on crucial global issues, including energy security, technology and innovation.

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Modi, who is on a three-nation tour, arrived Monday evening (local time) in Canada from Cyprus at the invitation of Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney. The Kananaskis gathering on June 16-17 is the Prime Minister's 6th consecutive participation in the G7 Summit.

“At the Summit, the Prime Minister will exchange views with leaders of G-7 countries, other invited outreach countries and Heads of International Organisations on crucial global issues, including energy security, technology and innovation, particularly the AI-energy nexus and Quantum-related issues," the Ministry of External Affairs earlier said.

Prime Minister Modi will also hold several bilateral meetings on the sidelines of the Summit, coming over a month after India's Operation Sindoor that had targeted terror infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir in retaliation for the April 22 Pahalgam attacks.

Carney's invitation to Modi to attend the G7 Summit signalled the new government's intent to repair the ties with New Delhi that plummeted to an all-time low over the killing of pro-Khalistani separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar.

In October last year, India recalled its high commissioner and five other diplomats after Ottawa attempted to link them to the Nijjar case. India also expelled an equal number of Canadian diplomats.

India had accused Justin Trudeau's government of allowing pro-Khalistani elements to operate from Canadian soil.

Carney, an economist and political newcomer, took charge as Canada's new prime minister in March following the exit of Trudeau from the top office.

After Trudeau's exit, New Delhi said it hoped to rebuild ties with Canada based on "mutual trust and sensitivity".

The Group of Seven (G7) is an informal grouping of the world's advanced economies - France, the US, the UK, Germany, Japan, Italy and Canada and the European Union. Its members meet annually at the G7 Summit to discuss global economic and geopolitical issues.

India, the fifth-largest economy in the world, has regularly been invited to the Outreach session of the G7 Summit in the past few years.