KANANASKIS, ALBERTA – The arrival of India’s Prime Minister in Canada for the G7 summit has been met with both high-level diplomacy and vocal street protests, highlighting the deep tensions that remain between the two countries.
The Indian leader landed in Calgary on Monday evening to attend the summit as an invited guest of the Canadian government. The visit is the first since diplomatic ties collapsed last year over Canadian allegations of Indian involvement in the killing of a Sikh separatist leader in B.C. Canada’s new government has expressed a desire to “reset” the relationship.
Simultaneously, Sikh separatist groups held a noisy but peaceful protest outside Calgary’s city hall on Monday. Protesters called for G7 nations to hold the Indian government accountable for what they describe as “trans-national repression.”
“We are here to basically send a message to G7 countries that under [this] government, [there] have been escalation of trans-national repression, assassination of Sikhs,” one protester who travelled from the U.S. told reporters.
The protesters, who say they will be back on Tuesday, are demanding that G7 nations pressure India to allow a binding referendum on the creation of an independent Sikh homeland, known as Khalistan.
The Prime Minister’s Office in Canada has defended the invitation, stating that as the leader of the world’s fifth-largest economy, the Indian Prime Minister’s participation in critical global discussions is essential.
