India-Canada: Relationship Reset

Canada’s minister of foreign affairs Anita Anand visited India on October 12-14 to continue the process of re-setting India-Canada bilateral ties. This began with prime minister Narendra Modi’s June 18 meeting with his Canadian counterpart, Mike Carney, on the sidelines of the G7 outreach meeting in Kananaskis, Canada. Carney had become Canada’s prime minister in March this year after Justin Trudeau stepped down as leader of the Liberal party. Carney went in for early elections because the plunging political fortunes of his party witnessed an upsurge when US president Donald Trump insulted Canada after taking oath for his second term in January. Trump said Canadians would be better off if their country became a constituent state of the US!

In the Parliamentary elections held in April, the now Carney led Liberal party did better than it had in the 2021 elections. While it did not achieve a majority on its own it was not now dependent on the New Democratic Party (NDP) as that party’ number of seats dropped from 24 to 7. Led by Jagmeet Singh, a Khalistani supporter, the NDP exercised constant pressure on Justin Trudeau to act tough with India. Among other reasons, this led Trudeau to act irrationally and accuse ‘agents of the Government of India’ to have been potentially involved in the murder of the Khalistani activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar in June 2023.

Consequently, India-Canadian relations went off the rails. High Commissioners were recalled and the staff of the Missions and Consulates reduced and cooperation in different fields became more or less dormant. Four Indian nationals were arrested by the Canadian police for Nijjar’s murder. But their trial has not begun as yet. It has been made known that pre-trial motions may begin in early next year.

Clearly, the Canadians have never had any smoking gun against Indian diplomats which could be used as evidence. Obviously, once the Jagmeet Singh’s pressure was over Carney had the elbow room to put India-Canada bilateral relations back on track. Incidentally, Singh lost his own seat in the election and gave up the leadership of the NDP. Among the disruptions caused by Trump both India and Canada decided to restore their ties and it is obvious that considerable quiet diplomacy would have taken place before the Modi-Carney meeting in Kananaskis.

Modi and Carney decided “to take calibrated and constructive steps to restore stability in the relationship, beginning with the early return of High Commissioners to each other’s capitals”. In pursuance of this decision both countries appointed senior diplomats as High Commissioners who took charge of their assignments in August. This was a significant measure for even in this age of constant and direct communications between leaders of countries there is no substitute for the role that Heads of Missions can play especially in restoring ruptured ties to good health. This is because as diplomats on the spot they can reach out to both official and non-officials and clarify to them the sensitivities of their countries. There is no bridge more solid for the relationship of states than high calibre diplomats as Heads of Missions.

Modi and Carney also underlined “the importance of restarting senior ministerial as well as working-level engagements across various domains to rebuild trust and bring momentum to the relationship”. Anita Anand’s visit to India was clearly in pursuance of this advice to their respective ministerial colleagues.

The two governments made efforts to prepare well for Anand’s visit. This is seen by the fact that their National Security Advisors met in September. Clearly, the purpose of their meeting would have been to ensure that there would be no more surprises emerging out of the Nijjar case that would harm relations. Pre-foreign office consultations were also held and Jaishankar and Anand also had an exchange of views in New York on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly session. This too would have been to create the ground for Anand’s smooth visit.

The roadmap set out by Jaishankar and Anand has a deep focus on commercial, economic, technology, higher education and agricultural cooperation. It commits both countries to engage with each other on the existential issues of our times. These include climate change which is impacting both India and Canada. These areas of interaction are of great importance to India as seeks to achieve the goal of Viksit Bharat. It is also good that the sector of critical minerals did not escape the ministers attention. The decision to “Hold the first Critical Minerals Annual Dialogue on the margins of the Prospectors and Developers Association Conference in Toronto in March 2026” was timely. The Dialogue should be prepared for in action-oriented manner with clear objectives and timelines. As the Indian economy grows to become the world’s third largest its need for critical minerals in areas of manufacturing in high technology areas would grow exponentially.

The two ministers also noted the need for the two countries to pursue “a constructive and balanced partnership grounded in respect for each other’s concerns and sensitivities”. It is here that Canada will have to remain mindful of Indian views on Khalistani activities and those of India criminal gangs that operate from Canada and the need to put curbs on them. Besides Canada will have to find ways to deal with a problem that Trudeau ignored. Indeed during his tenure Canada stated that its laws relating to freedom of expression permitted activities which were offensive to India. Canada would have to find ways to ensure that these activities do not occur now. It will also have to take steps to stop intrusive questioning of Indian security personnel and other Bonafide Indian nationals who seek visas for Canada.