Trudeau says co-operation coming with Modi, but short on specifics

India and Canada will co-operate on a range of important issues, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said after speaking to his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi at the G7 summit.

But Trudeau would not specify what those issues are, or whether he raised the allegations about the Indian government's involvement in the killing of Canadian Sikh activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar, which is at the centre of a rocky relationship between the two countries for the last several months.

«I'm not going to get into the details of this important, sensitive issue that we need to follow up, but this was a commitment to work together, in the coming times, to deal with some very important issues,» Trudeau told journalists at a news conference in Savelletri Di Fasano, Italy, on Saturday morning.

Invited as a guest at the annual summit of the world's wealthiest economies, Modi took centre stage at the G7 on Friday, his official YouTube channel publicizing bilateral meetings he held with several leaders, including his British counterpart Rishi Sunak, French President Emmanuel Macron, and other high-profile guests such as Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Pope Francis.

Later in the evening, Modi posted a picture showing him shaking hands with Trudeau on his social media profile on X, simply with the caption «Met Canadian PM Justin Trudeau at the G7 Summit.»

Trudeau's office acknowledged the encounter afterward in a brief statement to journalists, characterizing it as an interaction on the margins of the G7, during which Trudeau congratulated Modi on his recent re-election.

«We need to continue to engage with various partners around the world, with various partners, even as we highlight challenges as we stand up for the rule of law,» Trudeau