Prime Minister Mark Carney is standing by his decision to have India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Kananaskis, Alberta, for the G7 Summit, which kicks off on Sunday. India is the “fifth largest economy in the world, the most populous country in the world and central to supply chains,” Carney told reporters earlier this month to explain Modi’s visit.

This is Modi’s first Canadian visit since relations soured following the 2023 assassination of Sikh activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Surrey. How Carney navigates this visit will shape future Canada-India ties, the credibility of Ottawa’s Indo-Pacific Strategy and the Liberal Party’s future electoral fortunes within the 770,000-strong Sikh community.  

India already ranks as Canada’s 10th-largest trading partner and the fastest-growing G20 economy. It is explicitly branded a “critical partner” in the Indo-Pacific Strategy because of its demographic weight and shared democratic tradition. Add in 41 per cent of Canada’s international students and a surging tech sector hungry for critical minerals, and it becomes clear why Carney could not afford to exclude Modi. Canada’s Indo-Pacific ambitions—diversifying exports away from an increasingly protectionist United States and a more assertive China—hinge on deeper access to India’s $4 trillion economy, a conclusion that other G7 members have already drawn. 

Sikh Canadians make up just over two per cent of the population but wield outsized electoral influence in dozens of suburban ridings in Ontario, British Columbia, and Alberta—the very provinces Carney must hold to keep his minority-plus mandate. Advocacy groups have branded Modi’s invitation a “betrayal,” and Khalistan-aligned groups plan airport-to-summit protests, accusing Ottawa of capitulating to Delhi. Carney, therefore, confronts a classic Canadian dilemma: How to court a pivotal Indo-Pacific partner without alienating a domestic community that still demands justice and accountability.

Carney has signalled he will employ three parallel tracks while re-engaging India. First, due process on the 2023 assassination: In a French interview with Radio-Canada, Carney said, “we’ve made progress with India in a bilateral sense. They are OK with having a legal process between law enforcement entities,” making it very clear the legal process is ongoing. Second, community engagement: Carney has met with MPs whose ridings include large Sikh communities, and Carney has provided assurances that Sikh concerns will be expressed. Third, values-based framing: A possible joint communiqué that foregrounds democracy, pluralism and the rule of law—language both leaders can endorse without reopening the Khalistan wound. The aim is to show Sikh voters that engagement, not isolation, is the surest path to accountability.

In this regard, Canada would do well to look at Australia’s playbook. 

When India–Australia relations deepened under Prime Ministers Scott Morrison and Anthony Albanese, Canberra didn’t sidestep concerns. It established structured diaspora engagement mechanisms, hosted policy roundtables with Sikh community leaders, and separated law enforcement cooperation from diplomatic overtures. This dual-track diplomacy—of engagement abroad and accountability at home—helped Australia avoid alienating key voting blocs. It also clarified that the Indo-Pacific strategy is not about the endorsement of a leader, but securing national interests through institutional partnerships.

Canada and India have unfinished business. A Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement, mothballed after the Nijjar fallout, could be relaunched with a limited pact on digital trade, renewable-energy supply chains and agricultural market access. Ottawa also wants India inside a new G7 Critical Minerals Forum; Delhi, in turn, seeks Canadian lithium and cobalt for its electric-vehicle push. An announcement on mutual recognition of skills credentials would directly benefit the 40,000-plus Indian students graduating from Canadian polytechnics each year, easing labour shortages at home and abroad. None of these deals requires Carney to dilute his human-rights language; they simply turn the summit into a problem-solving workshop rather than a photo-op.

Inviting Modi is not, as critics claim, a “sell-out.” It is a strategic bet that Canada’s future prosperity and security reside in a networked Indo-Pacific where a pluralistic, democratic India is an indispensable node. But that bet will pay off only if Carney persuades Sikh Canadians that justice and engagement are not mutually exclusive. The Alberta summit is thus both a diplomatic icebreaker and a domestic stress test. Pass it, and Ottawa can pivot to a new era of pragmatic partnership with the world’s most populous democracy. Fail, and the fracture lines exposed in 2023 could harden into a permanent obstacle to Canada’s Indo-Pacific ambitions.

The stakes could scarcely be higher—and they will be measured not just in communiqués signed in Kananaskis but in ballots cast from Brampton to Burnaby when Canadians next go to the polls.

Kumaran Nadesan is the Co-Founder and Deputy Chairman of the 369 Global group of companies. For more thought-provoking stories and exclusive content, subscribe to 3 magazine’s print and digital editions today!