Sikh groups demanding Carney revoke G7 invite to India PM Modi

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OTTAWA — Just ahead of the two-year anniversary of the assassination of a prominent B.C. Sikh activist, groups are calling on Prime Minister Mark Carney to rescind an invitation to India’s prime minister to attend next week’s G7 summit.

Speaking to reporters Thursday on Parliament Hill, World Sikh Organization spokesperson Balpreet Singh said this week’s news of an apparent plot by Indian agents to surveil outgoing NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh highlights the risks that government poses to Canada’s sovereignty.

“India targeted a Canadian politician on Canadian soil — that’s absolutely unprecedented,” Balpreet Singh said.

First reported Thursday by Global News, the agent accused of surveilling Jagmeet Singh has alleged ties to Indian gangster Lawrence Bishnoi, whom the RCMP have accused of targeting members of Canada’s pro-Khalistan movement — seeking to create a separate Sikh homeland in India.

Revelations of the surveillance prompted the RCMP to place Jagmeet Singh under police protection 18 months ago.

Prime Minister Mark Carney invited Indian PM Narendra Modi to next week’s G7 summit in Alberta, potentially reversing frosty relations between the two nations after former PM Justin Trudeau stood in the House of Commons two years ago to publicly accuse India of assassinating Sikh activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar in the parking lot of his Surrey, B.C. gurdwara on June 18, 2023.

Fallout from those accusations included both nations expelling each other’s diplomats.

“The invitation to Mr. Modi on June 6, when Sikhs around the world are commemorating the 1984 June genocide, was very insensitive,” said Moninder Singh, of the B.C. Gurdwaras Council, referring to a series of organized pogroms against Indian Sikhs that killed thousands.

“And then you have the G7 that’s running from June 14 to 17, which is bumping up against June 18, the assassination day of Mr. Nijjar. These types of conversations can be held elsewhere.”

Aside from the WSO, other groups against Modi’s visit include the Ontario Gurdwaras Committee, the Quebec Sikh Council, the BC Gurdwaras Council and the Sikh Federation of Canada.

They want Canada to launch a public inquiry into India’s foreign interference and overseas oppression of Canadian Sikhs, and for Canada to cease sharing intelligence with India.

They also want the invitation withdrawn until India promises to stop targeting Canadian Sikhs and meddling in Canada’s affairs.

Balpreet Singh, who pointed out that Carney’s invitation is being painted in Indian media as Canada capitulating to India, accused him of wading into unfamiliar waters.

“Prime Minister Carney is perhaps being naive when he thinks that having dialog with India will bear great fruit,” he said.

“We’ve seen this play out many times through many prime ministers, and without strong action, without actual concrete announcements and requirements, nothing changes.”

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