Canada | Pakistan

United States President Donald Trump said on Friday that he is calling off trade negotiations with Canada in retaliation for taxes impacting major US tech firms, adding that Ottawa will learn of their tariff rate within a week. “Based on this egregious tax, we are hereby terminating all discussions on trade with Canada, effective immediately,” Trump said in a post on his Truth Social platform. He added that Canada will soon find out the levy it needs to pay to do business in the United States, calling his country’s northern neighbour “very difficult” to trade with. Washington has previously taken issue with Canada’s digital services tax, requesting dispute settlement talks last year over the matter. While Canada’s digital services tax is not new — it was enacted last year — US service providers are “on the hook for a multi-billion dollar payment in Canada” by June 30, noted the Computer and Communications Industry Association. While Canada has been spared from some of Trump’s most sweeping duties, such as a 1...

Group of Seven (G7) leaders will gather in the Canadian Rockies starting on Sunday amid growing splits with the United States over foreign policy and trade, with host Canada striving to avoid clashes with US President Donald Trump. While Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney says his priorities are strengthening peace and security, building critical mineral supply chains and creating jobs, issues such as US tariffs and the conflicts in the Middle East and Ukraine are expected to feature heavily. US ally Israel launched a barrage of strikes across Iran on Thursday, a blow to Trump’s diplomatic efforts to prevent such an attack. The summit will take place in the mountain resort of Kananaskis, some 90 kilometres west of Calgary. The last time Canada played host, in 2018, Trump left the summit before denouncing then Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau as “very dishonest and weak” and instructing the US delegation to withdraw its approval of the final communique. “This will be a successful meeting if Donald Trump...

Members of Canada’s Sikh community, who were warned by police that their lives were at risk and allege the Indian government is responsible for the threat, are incensed by Ottawa’s invitation to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the G7 summit in Alberta. Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney invited Modi, although India is not a G7 member, to attend the summit, which starts on Sunday, as a guest. It will be Modi’s first visit to Canada in a decade and a diplomatic test for Carney, a political neophyte. Canada’s relationship with India has been tense since former Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in 2023 accused India’s government of involvement in the June 18, 2023 murder of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a Sikh separatist leader in Canada. Modi’s government has denied involvement in Nijjar’s killing and has accused Canada of providing a safe haven for Sikh separatists. “‘Outrage’ is the kind of term that I’ve heard from people,” Sikh activist Moninder Singh, a friend of Nijjar, said of the invitation. He and other S...

New Delhi: After his name was initially missing from the list of Global South leaders invited to the G7 summit in Canada, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced on Friday that he had received the elusive invitation and would be attending the June 15-17 jamboree. Indian opposition had held the absence of the invitation to Modi as yet another sign of India’s isolation after the military escalation with Pakistan last month. The Indian Express said it was a sign of improving ties between India and Canada that Mr Modi was invited by Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney for the upcoming G7 meeting in Kananaskis later this month. Ties between the two countries had worsened under former PM Justin Trudeau who had levelled several allegations against India. The US has arrested a man allegedly linked to the assassination of a Sikh separatist in Canada’s Surrey district.  Canada and India downgraded diplomatic ties after Mr Trudeau, the then Canadian prime minister, set off a political storm in 2023 when he alleged...

China called on Friday for steps to improve bilateral ties with Canada, saying there were no deepseated conflicts of interest, following a spike in trade tensions with many of Beijing’s Western trade partners this year. China is willing to work with Canada to put ties on a healthy and stable path and find solutions to address each other’s concerns through enhanced dialogue, Premier Li Qiang told Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney in a phone call on Friday, according to the state-run Xinhua news agency. “There is no fundamental conflict of interests between the two countries,” Li said. Li’s talks with Carney followed a highly-anticipated phone call between US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping on Thursday, which Trump said led to “a very positive conclusion” and offered hope the trade war between the world’s two largest economies might start to de-escalate. As the effects of trade frictions start to make their way into the already soft Chinese economy, Beijing has stepped up engagement wi...

NEW DELHI: After claiming exaggerated prestige from hosting last year’s G20 summit in New Delhi and following continuous visits as special invitee to G7 summits, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has not been asked to attend the upcoming G7 summit in Ottawa, reports said on Monday. The G7 is an informal grouping of the industrialised west and Japan — France, Germany, Italy, the United Kingdom, Japan, the United States, and Canada. It is also attended by the European Union (EU), the IMF, the World Bank and the United Nations. India Today noted that South Africa, Ukraine and Australia have reportedly accepted invitations from Canada, it said “uncertainty remains over PM Modi’s visit.” The report said “India is yet to receive any official invitation for the summit, which is being hosted by Canada from June 15-17,” but also added that the Indian side was not “inclined to attend”. It quoted sources as saying “relations must improve” before any such high-profile visit takes place. The report also cited security c...

Prime Minister Mark Carney won Canada’s election on Monday, local media projected, leading his Liberal Party to a new term in power after convincing voters his experience managing economic crises prepared him to confront United States President Donald Trump. The public broadcaster CBC and other outlets projected the Liberals would form Canada’s next government, but it was not yet clear if they would hold a majority in parliament. Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre fell short of becoming prime minister, but his party was on track to form a strong opposition in parliament Trump’s trade war and threats to annex Canada — which he renewed in an election day social media post — outraged Canadians and made dealing with the US a top campaign issue. Carney, who had never held elected office and only replaced Justin Trudeau as prime minister last month, anchored his campaign on an anti-Trump message. He previously served as central bank governor in both Britain and Canada and persuaded voters his global financial exp...