Prime Minister Narendra Modi kicked off his engagement in Canada with participation in the welcome session of the G7 Outreach Session on Tuesday. Soon after landing in Calgary, he said he would be meeting various leaders at the summit and sharing his thoughts on important global issues.According to Indian govt sources, he was scheduled to have bilateral meetings with the leaders of Canada, Germany, Ukraine and Italy. “Will also be emphasising the priorities of the Global South,” said Modi. Modi had a pull aside with Mexico President Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo in the morning, as the G7 Family Photo event was delayed because of the group’s meeting with Nato and Ukraine. MEA said Modi will be participating in G7 discussions on the future of energy security, including diversification, technology, infrastructure and investment, to ensure access and affordability in a changing world. On the sidelines, Modi was expected to meet his Canadian counterpart Mark Carney in the evening. The meeting will be closely followed as both leaders explore pathways to end the strife in ties over the Khalistan issue. The engagement with Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelensky is also significant as this will be their first meeting this year. Modi is expected to urge direct talks between Ukraine and Russia to end the war.PM Modi also met his Australian counterpart Anthony Albanese on the sidelines of the G7 summit, and later tweeted, “Good to meet my friend.”From its initial focus on economic issues, G7 has gradually become a forum for consultation to find common ground on major global challenges. Since 2003, non-member countries like India (mostly developing countries of Asia and Africa) have been invited to Outreach Sessions.Earlier on Monday night, US President Donald Trump abruptly left the G7 summit in Calgary and returned to Washington DC, scuppering among other engagements a bilateral with PM Modi, who arrived for the meeting even as Trump was winding down.Trump’s departure only heightened the drama of a world on the verge of several firestorms – and of a submit now without its most-watched leader. Things were getting awkward even before Trump left. After the famous photo from the G7 in 2018 featured Trump and then-German Chancellor Angela Merkel displaying less-than-friendly body language, this year’s edition included a dramatic eye-roll by Italian PM Giorgia Meloni as French Prez Macron whispered something in her ear during a Monday roundtable.Members of Trump’s trade team remained in Canada, including treasury secretary Scott Bessent, US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer and Kevin Hassett director of the National Economic Council. Bessent sat the table as other world leaders met Tuesday with Zelensky, representing the US at the gathering.With talks on ending the war in Ukraine at an impasse, Britain, Canada and other G7 members were slapping new tariffs on Russia in a bid to get it to the ceasefire negotiating table. Trump declined to join in the sanctions on Russia, saying he would wait until Europe did so first.