Kumar Bahukhandi
Mark Carney can work to soften India-Canada relations – Photo- Reuters
In Canada, Prime Minister Mark Carney’s Liberal Party has won the general election. After Mark Carney’s victory, it is believed that relations between India and Canada will soften. Carney has said many times that he is keen to improve relations with India.
The Liberal Party has once again won the Canadian general election. Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney’s Liberal Party has won 167 out of 343 seats in the House of Commons. The party has fallen short of a majority of 172 and will need an alliance with other parties to run the government. Before Mark Carney, the leader of the Liberal Party was Justin Trudeau, who announced his resignation from the post of Prime Minister and party leader in January 2025. During Trudeau’s tenure, relations between India and Canada had reached a low point.
Trudeau had blamed India for the killing of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar. In June 2023, Nijjar was shot dead in British Columbia, Canada and Trudeau blamed India for the murder, which India rejected. There was a lot of tension between the two countries regarding this murder. Canada expelled six diplomats working in Canada, including the Indian High Commissioner. In response, India also expelled dozens of Canadian diplomats from the country.
Trudeau’s foreign policy has faced a lot of opposition within his own party and Carney’s stance on India is completely different from Trudeau’s. Recently Mark Carney had said that if he is re-elected as Prime Minister, he will give priority to improving relations with India.
Canadian PM Carney’s stance on India
Carney has admitted that there is tension in the relations between India and Canada after the Nijjar murder case. He said, ‘Relations between India and Canada are very important at many levels. The people of Canada have deep personal relations with India, economic and strategic relations are also linked. There is tension in the relations which we have not created ourselves. We have a chance to improve this relationship again with mutual respect.’
He had said that the world economy is shaken and in such a situation countries like India and Canada can play a big role.
In March this year, after US President Donald Trump’s 25% tariff on Canada, Carney had said that Canada needs to diversify its trade partners. He had said, ‘Canada wants to diversify its trade relations with like-minded countries and we have a chance to improve relations with India again. If I become the Prime Minister, I will wait for this opportunity.’
Sources familiar with the matter had told Hindustan Times some time back that both countries are planning to appoint high commissioners as soon as a new government is formed in Canada.
In March, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal also talked about improving relations with Canada. He said, ‘We hope that we will rebuild our relations on the basis of mutual trust and sensitivity.’
Carney is associated with the Indian community in Canada
A large number of Indians live in Canada. There are 28 lakh Indian immigrants and people of Indian origin who are doing temporary jobs or are students. Many of these people are also permanent residents of Canada.
The number of Indian students in Canada alone is more than 427,000 who play an important role in Canada’s education and labor market. During Trudeau’s time, diplomatic relations deteriorated but there was no effect on the number of immigrants. It is believed that Carney will be generous towards Indian immigrants.
Earlier this month, he visited the Baps Swaminarayan Hindu Temple in Toronto and congratulated the people there on Ram Navami.
Carney also visited the Ottawa Sikh Society’s Gurudwara on the occasion of Baisakhi and wished the people.
India-Canada Trade Agreement
Due to India-Canada tension, talks on the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) between the two countries were halted. Talks were going on for years about CEPA, but after the allegations related to the Nijjar murder case, these talks between India and Canada were halted.
But it is believed that Mark Carney will show interest in making this agreement. Talking about trade between the two countries, India-Canada bilateral trade in 2023 was 13.49 billion Canadian dollars
