APULIA (Italy): Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said it is important to engage with partners across the world, even as Ottawa continues to highlight “challenges” for the rule of law.
He was speaking to reporters on the sidelines of the summit on Saturday (local time), where he was asked about PM Modi being received with ‘open arms’ and being at the centre stage in the family photo, according to the Canada-based media channel, Cable Public Affairs Channel (CPAC).
Responding to this, Trudeau said, “I think there is a clear understanding that we need to continue to engage across and around the world with various partners even as we highlight challenges as we stand up for the rule of law and the principles that drive the G7.”
“We need to engage with a broad range of partners and that’s exactly what we did during the Outreach session yesterday,” he added.
The Canadian PM further said there are some “important but sensitive” issues that the two countries need to work on together. He, however, refused to share many details of what the two leaders discussed.
“I think you can understand I’m not going to get into the details of this issue. There’s important but sensitive issues that we need to follow up on. But, this was a commitment to work together in the coming times to deal with some very important issues,” he said.
Being asked whether he received any assurance from PM Modi on the issue, the Canadian PM said, “Like I said I’m not going to get into it further but there are important issues that we need to work on and we will.”
The G7 summit was held in Italy’s Apulia region from June 13-15, where India was invited as an ‘Outreach Country’ to the summit and had participation from the seven member countries, the US, UK, Canada, Germany, Italy, Japan, and France, as well as the European Union.
PM Modi met his Canadian counterpart Justin Trudeau on the sidelines of the G7 Summit here on Friday (local time).
After the meeting, PM Modi in a post on X wrote, “Met Canadian PM @JustinTrudeau at the G7 Summit.” The meeting came amid strained diplomatic relations between India and Canada.
Ties between New Delhi and Ottawa had soured due to a row over Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s allegation that India was involved in the killing of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar in British Columbia, Columbia in June last year.
However, India has dismissed the accusations as “absurd” and “motivated.” New Delhi has also said that Canada has not provided any “specific” evidence or relevant information in the Hardeep Singh Nijjar killing case.
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. (ANI)