Next government in Canada must make the case to re-engage with India: Ex-diplomat
David McKinnon pointed out that India was now the world’s fifth largest economy, and while 20 years back, it was smaller than Canada’s, it’s now twice as large
Toronto: A retired Canadian diplomat, who once served in New Delhi, has said that the next government in Ottawa must make the case to re-engage with India.
David McKinnon, senior fellow with the Asia-Pacific Foundation of Canada, served as High Commissioner to Sri Lanka and the Maldives from 2017 to 2022 and before that as Minister-Counsellor at Canada’s High Commission in New Delhi from 2004 to 2009.
In a dispatch for the Foundation, he argued “whoever forms the Canadian government after the April 28 election must make the case for Canada to re-engage — effectively and pragmatically — with India.”
“India is far too important to our economic and security future to ignore,” he added.
He pointed out that India was now the world’s fifth largest economy, and while 20 years back, it was smaller than Canada’s, it’s now twice as large.
“Our engagement must reflect this reality — grounded in understanding and co-operation where possible, while not shying away from honest, respectful, and constructive dialogue about our differences,” he noted.
The referred to the collapse in relations between the two countries following the statement from then Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in the House of Commons on September 18, 2023, there were “credible allegations” of a potential link between Indian agents and the killing of pro-Khalistan figure Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Surrey, British Columbia, three months earlier.
However, he said, “While the Nijjar case cannot be ignored, this episode — however serious — should not dictate the entirety of our policy.”
He called on Ottawa to “stay focused on the bigger picture: an unstable, rapidly evolving global order where economic and security partnerships are more essential than ever”.
“Letting investigations and court proceedings unfold without unnecessary political interference is key to restoring dialogue and finding a potential way out — just as it was in a related case in the United States,” he said. That reference was to the high-level inquiry instituted by India in 2023 to probe the alleged attempt to kill Nijjar’s friend and Sikhs for Justice general-counsel Gurpatwant Pannun.
“India deserves a more thoughtful and strategic approach,” he stated. He added Canada’s understanding of India “has not reflected its strategic importance” as few policy thinkers and leaders “have more than limited appreciation of the world’s largest country, its complexities”.
“This has allowed the relationship to become a tool of domestic politics rather than one of strategic engagement rooted in Canada’s national interest,” he said.
“As Canadians grow increasingly concerned about a more assertive China under President Xi Jinping and an unreliable US under (President Donald) Trump, the question is no longer whether we need a serious, strategic relationship with India — but how,” he concluded.
