New Delhi: India said on Thursday that the upcoming talks between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Canadian counterpart Mark Carney are expected to help advance a forward-looking partnership, as the two countries continue efforts to steady relations after a prolonged diplomatic crisis.
Carney will arrive in India on Friday for a four-day visit, his first to the country since taking office. The trip is being closely watched as a step toward restoring momentum in bilateral ties that were badly disrupted in 2023 following a row over the killing of Khalistani separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Canada.
The Canadian leader will begin his visit in Mumbai, where he is scheduled to attend business engagements and interact with senior Indian and Canadian corporate leaders, financial experts and innovators. He will travel to New Delhi on Sunday, ahead of wide-ranging talks with Modi on Monday.
According to India’s Ministry of External Affairs, the discussions will review progress across multiple areas of the India-Canada Strategic Partnership. These include trade and investment, energy, critical minerals, agriculture, education, research and innovation, as well as people-to-people links. Trade, energy and technology are expected to be key focus areas. The two leaders will also exchange views on regional and global developments and jointly attend the India-Canada CEOs Forum.
“The visit comes at an important juncture in normalisation of India-Canada bilateral relations,” the ministry said, noting that both leaders have agreed to pursue a constructive and balanced partnership rooted in mutual respect, strong societal ties and growing economic complementarities.
Relations between the two countries reached a low point after then Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau alleged in 2023 a possible Indian link to Nijjar’s killing, a claim New Delhi rejected as “absurd”. Tensions escalated in October 2024 when India recalled its high commissioner and five other diplomats after Ottawa sought to link them to the case, prompting expulsions on both sides.
Carney’s Liberal Party victory in the parliamentary election in April last year opened the door to a reset. Both nations have since reposted high commissioners in each other’s capitals. Modi and Carney also met on the margins of the G7 summit in Kananaskis in June and again in Johannesburg in November, laying groundwork for renewed engagement.