After Canada excluded Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi from the list of invited special leaders at the upcoming G-7 summit, the world diplomatic field has become turbulent. For the first time since 2019, India is going to be excluded from the high-level gathering of powerful democratic countries. The conference is being held in Alberta, Canada from June 15 to 17.
According to some media, India has been pushing internally for the invitation. However, Canada's decision not to invite is being analyzed amid Delhi-Ottawa relations that have not yet been resolved after Hardik Singh Nijjar's murder case. The New York Times described India's exclusion from the conference as a 'rare diplomatic snub'.
It is considered a direct result of the growing tension between the two countries. In 2023, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau accused India's intelligence agencies of killing Nijjar. Nijjar was a pro-Khalistan Canadian citizen. India denied the allegation. Since then, there has been diplomatic tension between the two countries, and events such as the expulsion of embassy staff and the suspension of visa services.
India's Ministry of External Affairs has said that 'no formal invitation has been received'. International media have mentioned that India's absence from the conference seems meaningful in the context that countries like South Africa, Australia and Ukraine have been invited.
Modi, who used to be a regular and attractive presence at such world-class platforms in the past, being absent this time has been considered a serious blow to India's global image. Congress leader Jairam Ramesh has said that for the first time after 6 years, the person called 'Vishwaguru' will not be present on the G-Seven platform. "Regardless of the explanation, this is another major diplomatic failure for India," Ramesh posted on X, "Earlier it was against India's policy to accept US mediation in India-Pakistan tensions."
Accepting US mediation in resolving the India-Pakistan conflict, Ramesh interpreted it as a previous diplomatic failure of the Modi government to be ready to accept even the offer of talks in a neutral place.
