'Trudeau blew it': Ex-politician backs Canada's G7 invite, says cannot have Indo-Pacific treaty without India

Former Canadian politician Tom Mulcair said that former Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau blew up the entire Hardeep Singh Nijjar killing case, but the newly appointed Mark Carney has set out to establish partnerships with every country. 

“Mark Carney has a lot of credibility on all of these economic issues. We cannot have an Indo-Pacific treaty and not work with India. Americans dealt with a very similar situation by the way of interference by the Indian government. They dealt with it in a normal way. Trudeau stood up on the first day of Parliament and blew it up,” said Mulcair in an interview to CTV News. 

He said, “Carney is trying to establish partnerships with the Europeans, with our NATO allies, partnerships in the Pacific where we can join other countries, including inviting China, despite this whole issue of interference there. So overall Carney is being Carney and at the end of this G7 meeting I think we'll be in a position to judge him a lot better but I think this is going to be an opportunity for Canada to shine, thanks to the role that he's played in the world before and that Canada can start playing because the era of Trump is upsetting everything in the economic world especially our trade relationships.” 

Mulcair’s backing for Carney comes after the Canadian PM extended a G7 Summit invitation for Prime Minister Narendra Modi. India is not a G7 member but can be invited as a guest member.

Bilateral ties between India and Canada worsened after Canada accused India of involvement in the murder of a Sikh separatist leader and of attempting to interfere in two recent elections. In October 2024, Canada and India expelled several top diplomats and consular officials as ties between the countries tanked.

Despite the diplomatic tensions, India remains Canada's 10th largest trading partner, and Canada is the biggest exporter of pulses, including lentils, to India.

Carney, aiming to diversify trade away from the United States, said it was logical for the G7 to invite India, given its position as the world's fifth-largest economy and its central role in several supply chains. He added that both countries had agreed to continue law enforcement dialogue, marking some progress on accountability issues.