Canada PM Mark Carney signals a reset in ties with India if he returns to power

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney has signaled that he may reset ties with New Delhi if he were to return to power on Monday, describing the relationship with India as “incredibly important.”

Responding to a question from the network Y Media on the weekend during a campaign event, Carney said, “It’s an incredibly important relationship, the Canada-India relationship, on many levels. On the personal level, with Canadians having deep personal ties, economically, strategically.”

He did not directly address the festering matter of the killing of pro-Khalistan figure Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Surrey, British Columbia on June 18, 2023, but suggested differences which led to the cratering of ties could be resolved. He said, “There are strains on that relationship that we didn’t cause, to be clear, but there is a path forward to address those with mutual respect and to build out.”

Obviously, his remarks came in the backdrop of threats, including those of tariffs, from US President Donald Trump. “I’ll say this from experience, at this point where the world economy but also the global system has been shaken, is being reshaped, countries like Canada, like India specifically can play an outsize role in building an open, shared economy, shared ideas, a shared relationship. And I think the opportunity for that will be created because of the negative events that have happened, I’m speaking specifically of the trade war,”

He stressed, “It's one of the opportunities I would look to pursue if I were selected by Canadians.” That reference was to the Federal election on Monday, which the ruling Liberal Party is expected to win with a potential majority.

He was speaking at a rally in King City in Ontario on Saturday morning. As his response came so close to the election is a significant indicator of how a Carney-led Government may deal with India.

This wasn’t the first time that Carney voiced such views. While running for the party’s leadership, Carney told the audience at an event in the Greater Toronto Area or GTA on March 1 that Canada needed “new friends and new allies” and mentioned India in that context, according to three persons who were present there and are engaged in the India-Canada trade corridor.

It wasn’t an isolated remark, as three days later, he told reporters in Calgary, Alberta, “What Canada will be looking to do is to diversify our trading relationships with like-minded countries and there are opportunities to rebuild the relationship with India.”

The impetus for the change of tone comes from Washington and the threats from US President Donald Trump and how Canada’s largest trading partner and neighbour is no longer a reliable ally.

Senior Ministers in the Cabinet have unscored this potential switch in trajectory. One of them told a group of Indo-Canadians recently that Carney has plenty of friends in New Delhi and in the Government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and will look to leverage those relations. Another Minister told them that Ottawa would seek a “major reset” under Carney.

Relations cratered when then Prime Minister Justin Trudeau stated in the House of Commons on September 18 that year that there were “credible allegations” of a potential link between Indian agents and Nijjar’s killing.

But there will have to be measures in place before a semblance of normalcy can be achieved. According to an analysis from the Vancouver-headquartered Asia Pacific Foundation’s Vice-President Research & Strategy Vina Nadjibulla and Program Manager for South Asia Suvolaxmi Dutta Choudhury, those could include inviting Modi for the G7 Leaders’ Summit in June this year. “India will be watching closely, particularly regarding the handling of invitations — especially if key non-members are invited,” they said.

In addition, they suggested, New Delhi could establish a high-level inquiry into the Nijjar murder, along the lines of that for the abortive attempt on Sikhs for Justice general counsel Gurpatwant Pannun in the United States, also in the summer of 2023.

Both countries are looking at appointing High Commissioners soon after the new Government is formed in Ottawa, people familiar with the development told the Hindustan Times recently.

The softening stance this year has come not just from Canada but also from India, as in March, Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said, “Our hope is that we can rebuild our ties based on mutual trust and sensitivity.”