India and Canada have agreed a host of steps at talks between their foreign ministers in Delhi aimed at restoring ties that plummeted after a Sikh separatist leader was assassinated on Canadian soil.
Canada’s Foreign Minister Anita Anand, making her first official visit to India, met her counterpart S Jaishankar and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Modi told her the visit would strengthen “efforts to impart new momentum” to the two countries’ partnership.
Relations hit rock bottom in 2023 when Canada’s then PM Justin Trudeau accused India of being linked to the killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, claims Delhi denied. Both countries suspended visa services and expelled each other’s top diplomats.
Canada is home to nearly 1.7 million people of Indian origin and the developments were being watched anxiously in both countries.
After the meeting of their foreign ministers in Delhi, the two sides announced a series of measures, including starting ministerial-level discussions on bilateral trade and investment.
“Reviving this partnership will not only create opportunities for enhanced economic cooperation but also help mitigate vulnerabilities arising from shifting global alliances,” a joint statement said.
Signs of a thaw have appeared this year since Mark Carney took over as Canadian prime minister.
In June, Carney and Modi held a bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the G7 summit in Canada. Two months later, the countries appointed new high commissioners to each other’s countries.
Anand and Jaishankar also met each other on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly session in New York in September.
On Monday, Jaishankar said that India-Canada bilateral relations have been steadily progressing in the last few months.
“When we look at Canada, we see a complementary economy. We see another open society. We see diversity and pluralism,” he said, adding that this was “the basis for a close sustainable and long-term co-operative framework”.
“We are collectively committed to advancing this relationship now and in the long term, particularly when it comes to our mutual priorities in the Indo-Pacific,” Anand said.
The two countries will resume the Canada–India CEO Forum, which brings together executives from both countries to increase bilateral trade and investment. The announcement comes as Delhi deals with a punitive 50% tariff imposed by US President Donald Trump on Indian goods.
Anand is also set to meet India’s Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal to discuss boosting trade ties, before visiting Mumbai to speak to business leaders about investments and economic opportunities.
She will then travel to China and Singapore as part of Canada’s Indo-Pacific strategy that focuses on deepening the country’s engagement in the region.
By BBC News
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