Carney's G7 Invite To Modi Isn't Diplomacy, It’s Betrayal

"What Modi wants from Canada is not dialogue. He wants submission. He wants this country to suspend Charter-protected rights for Sikh Canadians."

Jaskaran Sandhu
June 6, 2025 | 5 min. read | Opinion

Today, on June 6, the anniversary of the 1984 Indian Army invasion of the Sri Darbar Sahib Complex, the Canadian government has invited Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the upcoming G7 Summit in Kananaskis, Alberta.

For Sikhs across Canada, this is not just a tone-deaf decision. It is a horrendous betrayal.

The same Modi government that stands accused of orchestrating the assassination of Canadian citizens on Canadian soil, including the murder of Hardeep Singh Nijjar on Gurdwara property in Surrey, is now being welcomed by Prime Minister Mark Carney with open arms.

The RCMP have confirmed there is clear and compelling evidence of Indian government involvement in transnational repression in Canada. That includes India’s use of organized criminal gangs, such as the notorious Bishnoi network, to carry out arsons, homicides, and shootings against Sikh Canadians.

This isn’t speculation. This is the official position of Canadian law enforcement. And it doesn’t stop there.

The Public Inquiry into Foreign Interference confirmed that India is the second most active foreign actor undermining Canadian institutions, only behind China. India’s actions aren’t just offensive; they are strategic, illegal, and destabilizing.

One of the principal architects of this Indian Government-Criminal Gang nexus is Amit Shah, Modi’s right-hand man and India’s Home Minister. He’s been linked by our officials to the very networks executing reckless criminal activities on our streets to kill Canadians.

And what’s India’s response? Denial. Stonewalling. Obstruction. Disinformation.

They have refused to cooperate in various investigations, refused to waive diplomatic immunity for implicated officials, and refused to acknowledge the findings presented by our intelligence agencies.

And yet, here we are, preparing red carpets and photo ops at a mountain retreat.

Some are calling this diplomatic chess. But what exactly is the strategy here? There is no appeasing Modi. This is a leader who has openly stated that India will go abroad and eliminate its enemies - no due process, no regard for sovereignty, no care for the rule of law.

What Modi wants from Canada is not dialogue. He wants submission. He wants this country to suspend Charter-protected rights for Sikh Canadians. He wants to rob Sikhs of their ability to advocate for issues important to them. If this is chess, we’ve already sacrificed our pawns, our principles, and our position. For what? An empty handshake in front of the Rockies?

Others argue that India is a democracy and belongs at the G7 table. Let’s put that to rest, too.

Equating Canada’s democratic values with India’s is a dangerous false equivalence. Minister Anita Anand referred to both as “mature democracies.” Modi called them both “vibrant.” But only one of these countries routinely silences the media, criminalizes dissent, and stokes communal mob violence for political gain - and it’s not Canada.

India is no longer a democracy in any meaningful sense of the term. The V-Dem Institute has classified India as an “electoral autocracy” and one of the fastest-declining democracies globally.

Reporters Without Borders ranks India 151 out of 180 countries for press freedom, placing it in the same company as Russia.

Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International repeatedly cite India for grave human rights violations, particularly against its minority populations.

We are not the same. Stop pretending we have invited a fellow liberal democracy to the G7. We’ve invited a regime accused of cross-border murder, foreign interference, and authoritarian repression. We’ve invited a government that treats Canadian sovereignty as optional and Canadian lives as expendable.

Carney’s invitation also reverses the principled stance taken by the previous Canadian government. Now, barely two years after Canada said its values are not for sale, Carney is sending the opposite message - that it’s business as usual, that trade trumps justice, and that Sikhs in Canada will have to live with it.

We would never extend this invitation to leaders from Russia, Iran, or China if they were found to be orchestrating political assassinations in Vancouver or Mississauga. However, for some reason, when it comes to India, the rules change. We’re told we have to “balance our interests” or that India’s market is too valuable to risk.

That’s a morally bankrupt line of thinking.

We cannot claim to be defenders of international human rights while welcoming those who violate them. No amount of vague diplomatic “engagement” can excuse what has already happened.

For the Sikh community in Canada, the message is chilling. You don’t matter. You’re expendable. Your rights are negotiable.

We hope Sikh Members of Parliament and all those who claim to stand for justice will not remain silent. This is not just about foreign policy. It’s about who we are as a country. It’s about whether our principles are fundamental or rhetorical. It is about whether Sikh Canadians are Canadians.

Jaskaran Sandhu hails from Brampton, Canada, and is the co-founder of Baaz. He is a Strategist at the public affairs and relations agency State Strategy and a lawyer. Jaskaran also previously served as Executive Director for the World Sikh Organization of Canada and as a Senior Advisor to Brampton’s Office of the Mayor. You can find Jaskaran on Twitter at @JaskaranSandhu_

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