Mark Carney Begins India Visit To Reset Bilateral Ties

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney on Friday kick-started a four-day visit to India that is focused on forging an ambitious partnership, especially in areas of trade, energy, technology and artificial intelligence.

Carney arrived in Mumbai with a high-level group, where he will meet leading Canadian and Indian business executives, financial specialists, and innovators.

“India is the world's fastest-growing major economy. We just arrived in Mumbai to meet with business leaders -- and forge partnerships that will unlock new opportunities for Canadian workers and businesses," the Canadian prime minister said on social media.

Carney and his Indian counterpart, Narendra Modi, will have extensive discussions on Monday after Carney visits New Delhi on Sunday.

The Canadian leader's visit is largely aimed at imparting a new momentum to the bilateral ties that came under severe strain following a diplomatic row over the killing of a Khalistani separatist in 2023.

It has been learned that Carney and Modi will mostly discuss trade, energy, and technology.

Building on their previous meetings in Kananaskis and Johannesburg in June and November, respectively, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) announced on Thursday that the two leaders will examine the progress made thus far in a variety of sectors of the India-Canada strategic partnership.

The two prime ministers will also 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.

In the last few months, India and Canada have taken several steps to normalise relations.

The India-Canada relations hit rock bottom following then Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's allegations in 2023 of a potential Indian link to the killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar.

India had dismissed Trudeau's accusation as "absurd".

After Ottawa tried to connect its high commissioner and five other diplomats to the Nijjar case, India recalled them in October 2024.

An equal number of Canadian diplomats were also expelled by India.

Carney, the leader of the Liberal Party, did, however, start the process of mending relations after winning the parliamentary election in April of last year.

Since then, high commissioners from both sides have already been stationed in each other's capitals.

Prime Minister Modi came to Kananaskis, Canada, in June of last year to attend the G7 conference.

Modi and Carney held extensive talks on the margins of the summit with a focus on rebuilding the ties.