After meeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the sidelines of the G7 Summit in Italy, Canada PM Justin Trudeau on Saturday said there was a "commitment" to work together with India to deal with some “very important issues”.
India and Canada ties have strained since last year after Trudeau alleged that Canadian authorities are “actively pursuing credible allegations" related to Indian government involvement in the murder of pro-Khalistani Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a designated terrorist.
After meeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the sidelines of the G7 Summit in Italy, Canada PM Justin Trudeau on Saturday said there was a "commitment" to work together with India to deal with some “very important issues”.
India and Canada ties have strained since last year after Trudeau alleged that Canadian authorities are “actively pursuing credible allegations" related to Indian government involvement in the murder of pro-Khalistani Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a designated terrorist.
The Canadian allegations from last year were strongly rejected by the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) as “absurd and motivated”.
Justin Trudeau and PM Modi met at the recently concluded G7 Summit, their first meet amid strained diplomatic relations over pro-Khalistani extremism. PM Modi had posted an image on social media of the two leaders shaking hands on Friday, with a one-liner saying “met Canadian PM Justin Trudeau at the G7 Summit”.
"I'm not going to get into the details of this important, sensitive issue that we need to follow up, but this was a commitment to work together, in the coming times, to deal with some very important issues," news agency PTI quoted Trudeau telling reporters at a press conference in Savelletri Di Fasano in Italy on Saturday, the concluding day of the three-day G7 Summit.
The last meeting between the two leaders happened on the sidelines of the G20 Summit hosted by India in September.
Soon after the meeting on Friday evening, the Canadian Prime Minister's Office said the leaders had a "brief discussion on the bilateral relationship", during which Trudeau also congratulated Modi on his re-election.
"Of course, there are important issues between our two countries right now. You can appreciate that we won't be making any further statements at this time," spokesperson Ann-Clara Vaillancourt was quoted by the Canadian Press news agency as saying.
India has maintained that the main issue between the two countries is that of Canada giving space to pro-Khalistan elements operating from Canadian soil with impunity.
India has repeatedly highlighted its "deep concerns" to Canada, conveying expectations of action against those elements by Ottawa.
Hardeep Singh Nijjar's murder is being probed by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP). Four Indian nationals have been arrested in this connection by the RCMP.