The Ben Mulroney Show - Mark Carney Invites Modi to the G7: Diplomacy or Betrayal?

Episode Date: June 9, 2025

Guests and Topics: -Mark Carney Invites Modi to the G7: Diplomacy or Betrayal? with Guest: Jaskaran Sandhu, Co-Founder of Baaz News and Board Member of the World Sikh Organization of Canada If you enjoyed the podcast, tell a friend! For more of the Ben Mulroney Show, subscribe to the podcast! https://globalnews.ca/national/program/the-ben-mulroney-show Follow Ben on Twitter/X at https://x.com/BenMulroney Enjoy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Get unlimited grocery delivery with PC Express Pass. Meal prep delivered. Snacks delivered. Fresh fruit delivered. Grocery delivery on repeat for just $2.50 a month. Learn more at pcexpress.ca. Welcome back to the Ben Mulroney Show. If you have been listening throughout this entire show,

then you might be exhausted by how much is actually on the plate of our Prime Minister. When he assumed the role of Prime Minister, I did not appreciate fully how many files needed his attention. It really does seem like he's going to be very, very busy on a lot of really important files, from free trade to our military. And now at the G7 summit, it looks like he is going to be tending, on top of being the host country, looks like he's also going to play host to another world leader whose relations

with Canada have been strained. And that world leader I'm talking about is the Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi, yes. And so here is what Mark Carney said about inviting Prime Minister Modi to the G7. What is your message then to Canadians who are a bit disturbed or wondering why Mr. Modi is being invited to Canada

when there is this legal process that has not cleared him and his governments of involvement in the death of a Canadian on Canadian soil? My message is that there we're a country of the rule of law. The rule of law is under is proceeding as it should in Canada and I am not going to disrupt that process. All right, well somebody who may take issue with the invitation and Mark Carney's position on said invitation is our next guest. He is the co-founder of Bos News and board member

of the World's Sick Organization of Canada and a good friend of the Ben Mulroney show, Jaskaran Sandhu, welcome. Hey, thanks for having me. So you wrote on Bos News, Carney's G7 invite to Modi isn't diplomacy, it's betrayal. Those are those are strong words. Yeah, very strong words. And I think it's important for Canadians to understand why the Sikh community feels this way. And many other Canadians, I was

actually encouraged by the reaction from a lot of folks, including in the media landscape, who came on and spoke out against the invitation. I think the first thing to recognize is, you know, we are not that far removed from a bombshell RCMP press conference where they shared unequivocally that India and its agents as well as its criminal gang networks that are linked with the Indian government.

And I'm not making this up. You can go watch the RCMP press yourself. I remember, and I remember when this came out under Justin Trudeau, I was not inclined to pay attention to anything Justin Trudeau said. But at that point, I said, you know what, he's speaking on something that is very important. And I cannot believe that he would be doing anything but acting in good faith and on behalf of Canada. So I took him at his word and I took the guy I took the RCMP at their word. Yeah, and doesn't true Nelson was just tip the iceberg.

He was talking about one specific incident where a president of a good about it was shot outside of a good one and go to the lot of the sixth place of worship. The RCMP add an additional layer that India was actually using criminal gang networks of it that that it has control of to conduct arson, homicides, extortions, as well as other criminal activities across Canada. And obviously the main target is the Sikh community, but these shootings happen in broad daylight in neighborhoods everywhere. And the extortions were indiscriminate. They're extorting businessmen from across South Asian community, not just the Sikh community.

All these investigations are continuing to push forward by the RCMP. You have multiple Indian nationals that are now in the court system facing criminal charges that are all linked with the Indian government. The link goes to Amit Shah, who is actually Narendra Modi's second-in-command within the Indian government. He has the title of Home Minister. and within the Indian government. He has the title of Home Minister. And then, you know, when you speak about inviting a government that is under all these investigations, that should come with some expectations that this government and the Indian government

would take part in the investigations. They will cooperate with the investigation, something that has been encouraged and recommended by all Five Eye partners, not just Canada, but India outright denies and actually has been spreading disinformation about Canada in response. Which brings me to the second point. And you know, some of the justifications given for inviting India was, look, this is diplomacy

and India is a mature. This is the word. Let me jump in because I want to join this is the word. Just, Gar, let me jump in, because I wanna join this conversation with you. I will take everything you said at face value and I'll concede all those points. I just wanna play a little devil's advocate. What if we didn't call it diplomacy?

What if we said, look, Canada's relationship with China, with India has not been good over the past few years. In fact, it's probably at a very low point. And the only way to improve it is to engage in conversation and bilateral communication. And I would go one step further, if we want to change the behavior, and again, devil's advocate,

if we wanna change the behavior that you, that bad actor behavior that you just so well described, isn't the only way to change it, improving the relationship with India and its leadership? Yeah, and so one of the reasons given, the justification given, was to the point that, well, India is another democracy, and we need to work together to try to solve these things. India is actually what is now called an electoral autocracy

by the VDEM Institute. So the leading researchers in democracy and the health of democracies around the world call India the fastest autocratizing country on earth. You know, its press freedom index is 151 out of 180 countries. What puts it alongside countries like Russia, Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International have all been raising alarm bells on the deteriorating situation

in India. This is not a good faith actor. We're not dealing with another democracy and we have some differences. This is you're dealing with a country akin to China, Iran and Russia, to be quite frank. And how does Canada talk about those countries? And we would say rightfully so, that Canada takes a hard stand and will be always clear to say, even in bilateral meetings with countries like China, for example, that, look, trade is important, economic ties are important, but it comes with caveats.

And one of them is that we have to respect the rule of law in international order. And in the case of India, we're inviting them and saying, in a country that is actively being investigated by our public interference inquiries and RCMP and CSIS, hey, welcome to the G7, in a country where you've been actively trying to kill people. So it's just outrageous. And again, I take all your points. But I guess my question would be, if not by inviting him to a conference where they can sit behind closed doors

without the presence of cameras, how do we get to a better place than we are today? How do we have a conversation about sort of the bad act or activity within our borders? How do we get to a better place than we are today if not talking directly to the leader? Look, I think we have to keep pushing on what we have been doing. Canada has sent multiple envoys to India, multiple outreach to sit down and have a conversation like adults,

about some of our concerns as a sovereign country. India's response has been to Stonewall and Deny and literally spread disinformation, not just about the Sikh community, but about Canada in general. They went as far as to say Justin Trudeau had cocaine in his plane and that's why he couldn't leave Delhi. This is the extent India is going. So the point is, if you want to rebuild ties with India, inviting them publicly to the stage at G7, which India is not a member of, like let's again, this is a courtesy, like they're not a member of the G7. And there's other countries, big important countries that are not invited to the G7. That doesn't mean we have blown up our relationships with them.

This is a separate international forum. India and Canada can have those conversations and rebuild ties in a certain way. And I think some folks put it really bluntly. I think it was the editorial board of the Globe and Mail that inviting Modi is too quick, too soon. So let me be clear with you. So your issue is not necessarily that that Carney would be talking directly with Modi. It's that he would be given a welcome of privilege into one of the most privileged groups in the world. Yes. And you're normalizing the ties at a time when India is again,

stalling every single investigation and request that Canada has put to them. All right. And we've totally normalized it. We've given them an out. You should see how this is being read and covered in India right now. What are they saying? Very quickly, tell me what they're saying.

Diplomatic victory. India can get away with anything. A senior journalist, a deputy editor of a senior journalist, literally tweeted yesterday in response to another Canadian journalist, we can literally kill any six we want in Canada, cope. So it is seen as a diplomatic victory and that Canada's weak in an un-serious country. Justgar, we're gonna leave it there. Thank you. I really appreciate your passion and your detail and adding real nuance to an important story. We appreciate it.

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