Vientiane (Laos)/Ottawa (Canada): Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Justin Trudeau met on the sidelines of the ASEAN summit in Laos, almost a year after his Canadian counterpart accused India of being involved in the death of a Canadian separatist from Khalistan.

The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC News) said Trudeau described the meeting as a “brief exchange” when the two leaders met at the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit. in Vientiane, Laos, which was held on Thursday. “I emphasized that there is work that we need to do,” Trudeau said, according to CBC News.

“I won’t go into detail about what we talked about, but what I have said repeatedly is that the safety of Canadians and respect for the rule of law is one of the fundamental responsibilities of any Canadian government and that is what I will remain focused on,” Trudeau said at a press conference in Vientiane.

Ties between India and Canada became strained last year after Trudeau’s September allegations that Indian agents were “potentially” involved in the murder of Hardeep Singh Nijjar outside a gurdwara in the city of Surrey on July 18. June 2023.

India, which designated Nijjar as a terrorist in 2020, strongly rejected Trudeau’s allegations, calling them “absurd” and “motivated.”