India, Canada Set to Rebuild Ties as PM Mark Carney Visits India

India on Thursday said the upcoming talks between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Canadian counterpart Mark Carney next week will offer an opportunity to advance a forward-looking partnership between the two countries.

Carney will begin a four-day visit to India on Friday, marking his first trip to the country as prime minister.

The visit aims to inject new momentum into bilateral ties, which were severely strained following a diplomatic row over the killing of a Khalistani separatist in 2023.

Trade, energy, and technology are expected to be the primary focus areas of discussions between Carney and Modi.

The Canadian prime minister’s first stop will be Mumbai, where he will participate in business engagements and meet with leading Indian and Canadian corporate leaders, financial experts, and innovators.

He will arrive in New Delhi on Sunday, and the two prime ministers are scheduled to hold wide-ranging talks on Monday.

The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said both leaders will review progress across various areas of the India-Canada strategic partnership, building on their previous meetings in Kananaskis and Johannesburg in June and November, respectively.

"They will also take stock of ongoing cooperation in key pillars, including trade and investment; energy; critical minerals; agriculture; education, research, and innovation; and people-to-people ties. The two leaders will also exchange views on regional and global developments," the MEA said.

Both prime ministers will attend the India-Canada CEOs Forum on Monday.

"The visit comes at an important juncture in normalisation of India-Canada bilateral relations," the MEA said.

"The two prime ministers have earlier agreed to pursue a constructive and balanced partnership grounded in mutual respect for each other's concerns and sensitivities, strong people-to-people ties, and growing economic complementarities," it added.

"The forthcoming meeting between the leaders will provide an opportunity to reaffirm the positive momentum and shared vision of India and Canada in building a forward-looking partnership," the statement said.

In recent months, India and Canada have taken several steps to normalise relations.

India-Canada ties had hit a low point following then Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s 2023 allegations of a potential Indian link to the killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, which India dismissed as "absurd."

In October 2024, India recalled its high commissioner and five other diplomats after Ottawa attempted to connect them to the Nijjar case and expelled an equal number of Canadian diplomats.

The victory of Liberal Party leader Carney in the April parliamentary election last year initiated the process of resetting relations. Subsequently, both nations have reinstated their high commissioners in each other’s capitals.

In June last year, Modi visited Canada’s Kananaskis for the G7 summit, where he and Carney held extensive talks on the sidelines to focus on rebuilding ties.

(with PTI inputs)