After confirming, Canadian speaker to skip G20 Parliamentary Speakers' Summit

Canadian Senate Speaker Raymonde Gagne will skip the G20 Parliamentary Speakers' Summit (P20) hosted by India amid a strain in diplomatic relations between the two countries over the Khalistani extremist issue.

Ottawa had earlier informed that it would attend the meet, which was also confirmed by Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla last week, in his interaction with the media. Birla had said that India would raise several issues in his informal interactions with his Canadian counterpart.

United States, Germany and France are also not attending the P20 summit. The three countries had not confirmed that they will attend the summit. Russia's full contingent is attending the summit.


France could not attend due to its budget session but will be represented by an Embassy official. The US House of Representatives currently doesn't have a Speaker.

The P20 meeting got underway on Thursday with Parliamentarians of G20 nations participating in the Parliamentary Forum on LiFE (Lifestyle for Environment), an initiative proposed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Gagne skipping the summit comes at a time when New Delhi and Ottawa are embroiled in a diplomatic standoff following allegations made by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in his country's Parliament last month. Trudeau had alleged that Indian agents were linked with the killing of Khalistani leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar in June last year in Canada -- a charge rejected by New Delhi as "absurd" and "motivated". Following Trudeau's allegations, India has suspended visa-processing services in Canada. And it also issued an advisory asking its nationals in Canada to exercise "utmost caution" because of "growing anti-India activities and politically condoned hate crimes".

India had also asked Canada to withdraw more than 40 of its diplomats from India.

Meanwhile, it has been reported that Canadian foreign minister Melanie Joly recently held a "secret meeting" with her Indian counterpart S Jaishankar in Washington.