On Wednesday, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will attend India’s virtual G20 leaders’ summit. The Canadian Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) confirmed Trudeau’s participation since it is on his November 22 schedule.
A senior Indian official also affirmed that Trudeau will attend the event, which Prime Minister Narendra Modi will host and chair.
This will be the first time in more than two months that any Canadian Cabinet minister, let alone the PM, will attend an Indian or India-led event.
The virtual event comes after the in-person leaders’ summit that took place in New Delhi on September 9 and 10. This will be the final meeting held under India’s presidency of the G20, lasting until the end of this month.
Problems between Canada and India surfaced during a tense formal meeting between Modi and Trudeau in New Delhi. According to a readout from the Canadian PMO, Trudeau “raised the importance of respecting the rule of law, democratic principles, and national sovereignty” at the time.
That was a precursor to Trudeau’s September 18 House of Commons remark that there were “credible allegations” of a possible link between Indian agents and the killing of Khalistani activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Surrey, British Columbia on June 18.