New Delhi [India], June 7 : The invitation to Prime Minister Narendra attend the G7 summit in Canada was due and "had to come" with India being a big geopolitical power, Foreign Affairs Expert Robinder Sachdev said on Saturday.
"Invitation to Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the G7 Summit was due, it had to come. India is too big a power now, geopolitically, economically, and with our common sense in this world which is in the middle of a conflict. India had to be a participant at the table there," Sachdev told ANI here.
Talking about the "gossip" about Canada not inviting India to the summit, the foreign affairs expert said that "in diplomacy we have to play games," while also saying that sometimes "it is better to keep the other side waiting.
"There was some gossip going around that maybe Canada is not inviting India. We have to remember that in diplomacy, we have to play games. Even if we got an invitation, we don't need to confirm immediately. It's better to keep the other side waiting sometimes," he said.
His remark was in reference to PM Modi only announcing his G7 visit only after Canadian PM Mark Carney called him, calling it a "classic case of Indian diplomacy."
"This was a classic case of Indian diplomacy when the Canadian Prime Minister had to make a call after which PM Modi confirmed the invitation," he said.
Earlier today, former diplomat KP Fabian said that without India's presence, the summit which discusses various issues pertaining to the economy, security, and terrorism could not have been "effective".
"The G7 meeting, which is effective on having conversations about what is happening to global economy, security issues, war and peace, as well as terrorism and necessary counter-terrorism measures, cannot be effective without India's presence," Fabian told ANI.
Earlier in the day, PM Carney said that G7 countries will hold discussions on important issues, including security and energy, in their upcoming summit, adding that India's presence at the intergovernmental political and economic forum is essential. The effort seems a bid to thaw the frozen ties between the nations.
The invitation to PM Modi comes after a period of severely strained relations between the two countries, triggered by Canadian allegations that Indian agents were involved in the June 2023 assassination of Hardeep Singh Nijjar--a Canadian citizen and prominent pro-Khalistan activist--outside a Sikh temple in Vancouver, as per DW News.
India strongly denied the claims, and both nations expelled senior diplomats in a tit-for-tat escalation, DW News reported.