Prime Minister Narendra Modi has accepted the invitation of Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney to attend the 51st Group of Seven (G7) summit meeting in Kananaskis, Alberta, Canada, from 15 to 17 June 2025.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will attend the G7 summit meeting for the sixth time, having attended in 2019, 2021, 2022, 2023, and 2024.
India has been invited to every G7 summit since 2019, except 2020, which was held in a virtual format.
India’s relations with Canada hit rock bottom after the former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's government accused India of involvement in the killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjhar in 2023 in Canada.
Nijjhar was an Indian born Canadian citizen. He was a Khalistani separatist and was accused of terrorism by India.
Both countries expelled each other's diplomatic staff, reduced diplomatic presence, and there was a freeze on bilateral dialogue.
Mark Carney succeeded Justin Trudeau as Canada's Prime Minister and led his Liberal party to victory in the recently held parliamentary election.
The following is the reason given by Mark Carney for inviting India.
The country that hosts the G7 summit meeting can invite other countries/international organisations to participate in the summit meeting.
Only three Indian Prime Ministers—Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Dr Manmohan Singh, and Narendra Modi—have been invited to the G7 summit meeting.
The G7 was established as an informal group of the world’s seven most industrialised democratic countries.
France took the initiative to create the group, and its first meeting was held in France in 1975.
Initially, the G7 discussed global economic issues, but later, its agenda included global peace and security, counterterrorism, development, education, health, the environment, and climate change.
Members
Initially, there were six member countries, and the Group was known as G6.
In 1976, Canada joined the group and became the G7.
In 1997, Russia joined the group, and it became the G8.
Russia was expelled from the group in 2014 after it invaded Ukraine and annexed Crimea.
Present G7 Members are Canada, France, Italy, Germany, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States of America.
The 27-member European Union has participated in the annual summit meeting since 1977.
Headquarters- It has no permanent headquarters.