President Claudia Sheinbaum proposed the staging of a “Summit for Economic Well-Being” and delivered a staunch defense of Mexicans in the United States during an address to the G7 Summit in Canada on Tuesday.
During a busy day in Kananaskis, Alberta, Sheinbaum also held bilateral talks with several leaders, including Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
“They were very good meetings,” she told reporters at her Wednesday morning press conference in Mexico City.
“Mexico is very well received, very well received. It’s not the president of Mexico, it’s Mexico and what our country represents. We were very well received,” said Sheinbaum, who was accompanied at the G7 Summit by Foreign Affairs Minister Juan Ramón de la Fuente, Economy Minister Marcelo Ebrard, Security Minister Omar García Harfuch and other officials.
All people ‘must have the possibility of a life with well-being’
During an address to the plenary session of the G7 Summit on Tuesday, Sheinbaum proposed the staging of a “Summit for Economic Well-Being,” according to a statement from the president’s office.
She proposed that the summit bring together the G7 countries, the nations that attended this year’s event in Kananaskis as guests, members of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) and other “interested countries.”
The aim of the summit, according to the government readout of Sheinbaum’s remarks, would be to “strengthen effective cooperation for development [and] for fair and reciprocal trade, as the basis for lasting peace that the whole world longs for.”
“All citizens from all countries must have the possibility of a life with well-being,” the president told fellow world leaders.
“And even though it seems a dream, it’s possible. This would mean progressing toward a more equitable, peaceful and sustainable international community,” Sheinbaum said.
“Economic well-being and cooperation for development are acts of shared responsibility of all nations. In a world marked by interdependencies, no country can isolate itself and prosper at the expense of … others,” she said.
Gracias al primer ministro de Canadá, @MarkJCarney, por la invitación a la Cumbre del G7. pic.twitter.com/hbHVxd26gL
— Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo (@Claudiashein) June 17, 2025
“… This G7 shouldn’t just be a meeting of powers, but rather a space of shared responsibility because power isn’t only measured by what one has, but also by what one does with it,” Sheinbaum said.
She said on Wednesday morning that specific details about the summit she proposed — such as when and where it would be held — have not been determined. Earlier this year, during her attendance at the CELAC Summit in Tegucigalpa, Honduras, Sheinbaum proposed the staging of a “Summit for the Economic Wellbeing of Latin America and the Caribbean.”
On Wednesday, she said that the proposed CELAC summit could be broadened in scope by inviting G7 members and other countries.
During her G7 address, Sheinbaum also spoke about Mexico’s commitment to peace, according to the statement issued by the president’s office.
“Peace doesn’t just consist of the absence of war. It also means the presence of justice, fair trade, opportunities, cooperation for development and respect of human rights,” she said.
“In this context,” Sheinbaum asserted that “it’s fundamental to recognize the people and families who have migrated out of necessity and who contribute significantly to the economies of the countries that receive them,” according to the readout of her remarks.
Among those people are the “hardworking and honest” Mexicans in the United States, she said.
Speaking as U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement works to fulfill President Donald Trump’s pledge to carry out the “largest deportation operation in American history,” and after days of intense protests against immigration raids in Los Angeles, Sheinbaum gave an impassioned defense of Mexican immigrants in the United States.
“They’ve built their lives with dignity, they comply with laws, they are [people] of effort and dedication, they pay taxes, they assume responsibilities and they don’t deserve discrimination, but rather respect and recognition,” she said.
However, Sheinbaum added, “the ultimate goal is that people have well-paid employment and access to an honorable life in their places of origin.”
The Mexican president delivered her address to G7 leaders, including French President Emmanuel Macron and United Kingdom Prime Minister Keir Starmer. Trump left the G7 Summit on Monday to attend to the conflict between Israel and Iran, scuttling plans for a bilateral meeting with Sheinbaum on Tuesday.
A ‘very important’ meeting with the Canadian PM
Not long after flying into Mexico City from Canada, Sheinbaum told reporters on Wednesday morning that she had a “very important meeting” with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney on Tuesday.
I had an excellent meeting with @ClaudiaShein at the G7. Canada and Mexico share deep economic ties that support jobs and business in both of our nations. We’re strengthening that partnership on trade, energy, and agriculture to keep North America competitive in the years ahead. pic.twitter.com/9jZjLJN8kp
— Mark Carney (@MarkJCarney) June 18, 2025
“Of course, we agreed to continue working together for the [USMCA] trade agreement, but also to further strengthen the trade, cultural and educational relations between Mexico and Canada [and] the investment of Canadian companies in Mexico, ” she said.
“… Since the call I had with him [in May], we’ve spoken about the agreement so that Mexican workers can go to work in Canada, mainly agricultural workers,” Sheinbaum added.
During her meeting with Carney, the president told the prime minister that Mexico “very much values” its relationship with Canada, according to a statement from the president’s office.
Sheinbaum noted that “a lot of Mexicans also live in Canada” and thanked Carney for the invitation to the G7 Summit.
She gifted the Canadian prime minister a soccer ball made by members of the Wixárika community in Mexico “as a symbol of the friendship between the two countries” and in acknowledgement that, along with the United States, they will co-host the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
Standing beside Sheinbaum, Carney told reporters that it was a “great honor to welcome President Sheinbaum to the G7.”
He said that the “enduring value of the president’s leadership” was “immediately clear.”
Carney also highlighted the “importance of Mexico being at the center of international cooperation.”
“If I may, Madam President, I’m going to quote you [in saying] that ‘there is no progress unless it’s shared.’ And this is the spirit that the president brings, that Mexico brings, and that Canada shares with you,” he said.
Both Sheinbaum and Carney said they supported the idea of holding a trilateral meeting that included Trump. The most recent “Three Amigos” summit, in which former presidents Andrés Manuel López Obrador and Joe Biden and ex-prime minister Justin Trudeau participated, took place in Mexico City in January 2023.
Sheinbaum meets with Modi and EU leaders
Sheinbaum also held bilateral meetings on Tuesday with Prime Minister Modi of India, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, European Council President António Costa and South Korean President Lee Jae-myung.
She said on Wednesday that she had a “very good meeting” with Modi, a powerful leader in the world’s most populous country.
“We also spoke about the importance of strengthening economic ties between India and Mexico, particularly in some sectors like the pharmaceutical industry … [in which India is] very important today, the technological industry in which India is also very important,” Sheinbaum said.
She said that she proposed to Modi the establishment of “investment agreements” between Mexico and India.
In a post to social media, Sheinbaum said that Mexico’s relationship with India would strengthen “through investment in scientific and technological development.”
For his part, Modi said on social media that he congratulated Sheinbaum on her “historic electoral victory” in 2024 that allowed her to become “the first woman president of Mexico in two centuries.”
“We both see an immense potential for the ties between India and Mexico to strengthen even more in the future, especially in sectors like agriculture, semiconductors, critical minerals, health care, among others,” he wrote.
“We also spoke about ways to strengthen ties between our peoples,” Modi said.
Sheinbaum said on social media on Tuesday that she spoke to von der Leyen and Costa about “the update of our trade agreement” with the European Union. She also noted that she invited von der Leyen to Mexico.
The European Commission president said in a social media post directed to Sheinbaum that “Mexico is a key partner for Europe.”
“From tackling climate change to boosting trade and investment, we’re committed to deepening our cooperation. We look forward to signing our modernized [trade] agreement — and visiting you in Mexico!” von der Leyen wrote.
Durante nuestra participación en la Cumbre del G7, llamamos a trabajar con firmeza por la paz; México ha sido históricamente un país promotor del diálogo, del desarme y del respeto a la soberanía de los pueblos. La política se inventó para construir puentes y soluciones. pic.twitter.com/MXQIMRitfZ
— Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo (@Claudiashein) June 18, 2025
Sheinbaum said she spoke to Merz about the “strategic relationship” between Mexico and Germany as well as “opportunities for economic cooperation.”
She said that her discussion with the recently elected president of South Korea focused on “bringing our countries closer and enriching ties between our peoples.”
There is a significant Korean population in Mexico, based primarily in large cities such as Mexico City and Monterrey.
Sheinbaum mixes with powerful world leaders at G7 meeting
While she missed out on the opportunity to meet Trump face-to-face for the first time, Sheinbaum did speak to the U.S. president by telephone on Tuesday. She said on social media that they “agreed to work together to soon reach an agreement on various issues that concern us today,” among which are U.S. tariffs on imports from Mexico and Mexico’s opposition to the proposed remittances tax in the United States.
At the G7, Sheinbaum appeared between French President Macron and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese in an official leaders’ photo. The leaders of Italy, Japan, Ukraine, Brazil and South Africa were also at the event, as was United Nations Secretary General António Guterres, among other dignitaries.
In a social media post that included the leaders’ photo, Sheinbaum wrote:
“I participate in the G7 Summit in Canada as a representative of an honorable and proud people who love their history, their culture and who have been characterized by being promoters of peace.”
Sheinbaum also posted a photo of her greeting Albanese at the hotel they both stayed at in Calgary, as well as ones showing her posing with President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva of Brazil and shaking the hand of President Cyril Ramaphosa of South Africa.
In another post, she appeared with members of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, whom she thanked for accompanying her on “this brief, but productive trip.”
By Mexico News Daily chief staff writer Peter Davies ([email protected])
