India's Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal stated on Monday that Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney's recent visit to India has set the stage for a comprehensive reset of bilateral relations. The ties had been strained under Carney's predecessor following the 2023 killing of a Sikh activist in Canada.
Resetting the Partnership
Speaking during his visit to Canada, Goyal met with Canada's International Trade Minister Maninder Sidhu. He was accompanied by over 100 senior business representatives from India's mining, energy, automotive, and aerospace sectors—the largest-ever business delegation from India to Canada, according to New Delhi.
“This is a partnership that is being reset very, very rapidly,” Goyal remarked. He highlighted that Carney's late February visit, the first by a Canadian prime minister in eight years, “completely changed the way Canada and India looked at each other.” Goyal added, “It has set in motion the pathway to a complete overhaul of this relationship, setting new agendas, new goals.”
Trade Talks Resume
Canada and India have been engaged in trade negotiations since 2010. Talks were suspended by Ottawa in 2023 after Canadian authorities alleged Indian involvement in the killing of Canadian Sikh activist Hareep Singh Nijjar near Vancouver in June of that year. India vehemently denied the allegations and accused former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's government of harboring Sikh extremists from the Khalistan movement, which seeks an independent Sikh homeland and is banned in India.
Ahead of his meeting with Sidhu, Goyal expressed that both nations are eager to finalize a free-trade agreement this year. During Carney's visit to India, he met with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and the two sides signed several agreements, including a 2.6 billion Canadian dollar ($1.9 billion) deal to supply approximately 22 million pounds of uranium to India for nuclear energy generation. A Canadian delegation visited New Delhi for trade talks earlier this month, and another Indian delegation plans to return to Canada later this year for further discussions.
Goyal also announced that both countries are working to triple their bilateral trade to $50 billion by 2030.
Diversifying Partnerships
In Ottawa, Goyal met with Carney and Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand. He is also scheduled to meet with CEOs of leading companies, startups, and pension funds.
Vina Nadjibulla, vice president of research and strategy at the Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada, noted that both countries are seeking to diversify their relationships and reduce dependence on the United States, which some partners increasingly view as unreliable. India has recently signed trade deals with the European Union, the United Kingdom, and New Zealand.
“India is now pivoting to Europe as well as to other Western economies like Australia and Canada to be able to meet its needs for capital, technology and innovation,” said Nadjibulla.
