Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney touched down in Mumbai Friday, beginning his inaugural official visit to India as he works to rebuild diplomatic ties that suffered significant damage in recent years under the previous administration.
The four-day diplomatic mission will include discussions with business executives and a scheduled meeting with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi on Monday.
India’s foreign ministry released a statement Thursday indicating the leadership meeting would provide a chance to reinforce “the positive momentum and shared vision” for a partnership focused on the future. Officials expect Modi and Carney’s discussions to address collaboration in trade and investment, energy sectors, critical minerals, and technology development.
Following his India visit, Carney plans stops in Australia and Japan next week as part of his broader strategy to reduce Canada’s trade dependence on the United States. The Prime Minister has established an ambitious target of doubling Canada’s non-American exports over the coming decade, citing concerns that U.S. tariffs are dampening investment confidence.
The two nations took steps last year to move forward on a trade agreement following a two-year period of diplomatic friction.
Relations between the countries soured when Canadian officials claimed India played a role in the death of a Canadian Sikh activist near Vancouver in June 2023. India strongly rejected these claims and criticized former Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s administration for allegedly providing sanctuary to Sikh extremists connected to the Khalistan movement. Indian authorities have prohibited this movement, which seeks to establish an independent Sikh state.
Diplomatic conditions began improving last June when Carney extended an invitation to Modi for the G7 summit held in Alberta.
Canada isn’t alone in making accusations against Indian officials regarding assassination plots on international territory.
In 2023, American federal prosecutors charged an Indian government official with directing a failed plot to kill another Sikh separatist activist in New York. Earlier this month, an Indian national pleaded guilty to conspiring to hire an assassin to murder the Sikh separatist leader.
