There was a strong push from the other G7 countries to have India at the table, Vina Nadjibulla, vice president of the Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada, said after Prime Minister Narendra Modi received invitation from his Canadian counterpart and current G7 chair, Mark Carney, for the summit.
In an interview on CBC NN, Nadjibulla said that Canada is the outlier because the other six members of the G7 are interested in deepening their strategic partnerships with India.When asked abut Carney’s decision to invite PM Modi to the G7 Summit, she said, “In terms of the G7, we are the outlier because the other six members of the G7 are interested in deepening their strategic partnerships with India, deepening their defense technology and economic ties. In fact, every day there is a new announcement about either France or UK Or US doing more with India.”
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“So having India there also matters to everybody else. I think there was a strong push from other G6 to have India at the table. And I think in order for Canada also to be able to show relevance on the world stage, we can just engage in diplomacy with those whom we like. I mean, this is not diplomacy is not a gift to our friends. It’s not a concession. It’s a necessary tool to be able to advance our interests and defend our values, right?” she added. The statement came after the Canadian PM sent the invitation to PM Modi for the G7 Summit, which the latter accepted. When asked abut the reason behind inviting PM Modi, given the history of sour ties between the two nations over the killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar on Canadian soil, Carney highlighted India’s economic prowess and said that it “made sense” to have the fifth largest economy at the table.Also read: ‘Supremacist and racist mentality’: Iran slams US travel ban; cites ‘deep hostility towards Muslims’“There are certain countries that should be at the table for those discussions and in my capacity as G7 chair consultation with others some others make those determinations. India is the fifth largest economy in the world, effectively the most populous country in the world central to a number of those supply chains at the heart of number of those supply chains so it makes sense. And in addition, bilaterally, we have now agreed importantly to continued law enforcement to law enforcement dialogue so there’s been some progress on that recognizes issues of accountability. I extended the invitation to Prime Minister Modi for in that context and he has accepted,” he added.
