Activists rally in Calgary during G7 summit to protest India PM Modi

CALGARY – More than 100 Sikhs waved blue and yellow Khalistan flags and held up posters Monday condemning Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi ahead of his visit to the G7 leaders’ summit.

One poster depicted the Indian leader handcuffed in a prison jumpsuit, and another showed him locked up behind bars with the message: “I killed Nijjar, a Canadian citizen.”

Modi was expected to arrive in Calgary later Monday. The G7 is being held west of the city in a wilderness retreat in Kananaskis.

There has been outrage since Prime Minister Mark Carney invited Modi as a guest at the G7 gathering.

Bakshish Singh Sandhu, co-founder of the advocacy group Sikhs for Justice, said Modi’s appearance in Canada is also an opportunity to shine a light on what he called the crimes of Modi’s government.

“This is an opportunity for the G7 to hold India responsible,” said Sandhu.

“We also ask the G7 to put pressure on Modi to hold a Khalistan referendum to liberate Punjab occupation, so people of Punjab can have the same rights as the citizens of all G7 nations.”

Protester Kuljeet Singh said he hopes the protests, which are to be livestreamed to the summit in Kananaskis, will get the attention of the leaders.

“Canada gave Sikhs the opportunity to challenge (Modi) directly and ambush him for the next 48 hours, for which we are thankful,” said Singh.

“Although India is not a part of G7, they can now be pressured and isolated. And we can receive answers to those questions, and they can be held accountable internationally for the crimes against activists worldwide.”

Activists have long been advocating for an independent Sikh state in India, known as Khalistan. It has presented a challenge to Modi’s government that has dominoed into tensions between Canada – and its large Sikh community — and India.

Last fall, the RCMP accused Modi’s government of having a role in murder, coercion and extortion in Canada. Before that, in 2023, then prime minister Justin Trudeau accused Indian government agents of being involved in the killing in Surrey, B.C. of Sikh separation activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar.

Monday’s protest was downtown at city hall, one of three designated G7 protest zones in Calgary and Banff.

Police have urged demonstrators to use these sites to get their message out rather than risk arrest by disrupting traffic or causing public disturbances.

In Banff, about 45 km northwest of the Kananaskis, a small group of protesters demonstrated in the designated parking lot outside the downtown. 

Some demonstrators, with Ukrainian flags around their shoulders, said they were protesting Russia’s invasion of the country. There were also some activists denouncing Israel’s war on Gaza.

Some climate protesters held up signs including one saying “Water is Life” and another that read “Oil and Gas Doesn’t Love You Back.”

Canada is hosting leaders from the United States, France, the United Kingdom, Germany, Japan, Italy and the European Union. 

Carney also invited leaders of non-member countries to the summit, including Modi. Carney has said security issues aside, it’s important to have the leader of India and its growing economy at the table.

The federal NDP and some members of Carney’s caucus have raised concerns about the invite. Modi has been at several recent G7 summits.

A wide swath of the wilderness surrounding Kananaskis has been sealed off by security, and a no-fly zone is in place for Calgary and Kananaskis. Security has come from the RCMP, other provinces, First Nations and the Canadian Armed Forces.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 16, 2025.

— With files from Matthew Scace in Banff