Trudeau and Modi meet face-to-face at G7 summit

Justin Trudeau and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi have met for the first time since Canada accused India's government of playing a role in the killing of BC Sikh activist Hardeep Singh Niger. Niger was gunned down outside of Sikh Gurdwara in Surrey last year and since then the relationship between the two countries has been strained. To discuss the political significance of their face to face encounter, we're joined by Hamish Telford, Political Science professor at the University of the Fraser Valley. Thanks for being here, Hamish. You're welcome, Jennifer. Good morning. So that meeting happened yesterday at the G7 summit in Italy taking place this past week. And so how significant was the encounter between Trudeau and Modi? I think it was significant and it was a step in in the right direction. International diplomacy is a sort of an unusual world. It's a world of small gestures, a code word, secret handshakes. This was a meeting on the sideline. It was not a formal meeting, but it would have been planned. They had exchanged pleasantries on Twitter. Prime Minister Trudeau prior to the meeting. Prime Minister Trudeau had congratulated Prime Minister Modi on his recent electoral victory. And Prime Minister Modi accepted that congratulations. And, and they had this little meeting on the on the sidelines there. They shook hands. They looked at each other in the eye. And I would say this was a positive step forward. If you think back two years ago at another international meeting, President Xi Jinping of China took Trudeau on the sideline and scolded him. And, you know, Trudeau stood his ground during that scolding. This was not a scolding. This this was sort of breaking the ice after a deep thaw. And we'll see where it goes from here. And so how will this play out in the public? Do you think maybe some people who are not happy with the Indian government here in Canada see this as a positive? Well, again, it depends where it goes, but I, I think that people will generally view positive relations between Canada and India as, as a good thing. If you remember, after we initially made the accusation, India reacted very angrily and refused to process visas for Canadians visiting in India. And that includes, you know, thousands, hundreds of thousands of Canadians with family members in India. They couldn't get back to see their families, conduct business and so forth. So we need good relations just so people, ordinary people can, can live their lives and, and conduct business and, and live meet with their families in India. How important is India to Canada when it comes to our economy, safety, growth, etcetera? In terms of our economy, it's a, it's a fairly small player, but everybody is a small player compared to the United States. 80% of our trade is with the United States and, and then followed by China and everyone after that is is in in Mexico. Very, very small players, but this is a market that Canadians hope to grow. But more importantly, Canada and other Western countries are looking at India as a strategic partner. After decades of trying to do business with China, we're now growing leery of Chinese ambitions on the in the global level. And, and so Western powers are looking into India as Kai's account of kind counterweight to the power of China. Of course, Canada is not a lead player in international alliances and militaries, but we are a player and and we do have an Asia Pacific strategy of which India is a critical part. So it's really important for for that reason as well, of course, as the the large number of of immigrants who have come from India and continue to come from India, both permanently and temporary to go to university. So for those two reasons, it's an important relationship. Indeed it is. It's nice to see them at least trying to make nice. So we'll see how it plays out for sure. Thank you so much. That's Hamish Telford with UFE joining us. Thanks, Hamish. You're welcome, Jennifer.