PM Modi congratulates Mark Carney, India banks on Canada PM's words for reset in ties

India-Canada ties came under severe strain under Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's government.

New Delhi: As the Liberal Party retained power in Canada, New Delhi is banking on Prime Minister Mark Carney's keenness to rebuild the bilateral relations, which suffered a setback during his predecessor Justin Trudeau’s tenure.

As Carney led the ruling Liberal Party to win the parliamentary elections in Canada, Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated him and his party on Tuesday. “India and Canada are bound by shared democratic values, a steadfast commitment to the rule of law, and vibrant people-to-people ties,” Modi posted on X. “I look forward to working with you to strengthen our partnership and unlock greater opportunities for our people,” he wrote to Carney.

Carney took over as the Liberal Party’s leader on March 9 and as the prime minister on March 14, after the resignation of Trudeau. The Liberal Party defeated the Conservative Party, led by Pierre Poilievre, but fell just short of winning the majority in the House of Commons.

New Delhi hopes for a reset in India-Canada ties with Carney at the helm of the government in Ottawa. The 24th prime minister of Canada has been signalling his willingness for a course correction in the bilateral relations with India. “It's an incredibly important relationship on many levels – personal, economic, and strategic,” he said about Canada’s relations with India just a day before the North American nation went to the polls.

“What Canada will be looking to do is to diversify our trade relationship with like-minded countries,” Carney had said after taking over the leadership of the Liberal Party from Trudeau. He had made the comment while articulating Ottawa’s strategy in response to the trade war launched by President Donald Trump’s administration in Washington, DC, against Canada.

“And there are opportunities to rebuild the relationship with India. There needs to be a shared sense of values around that commercial relationship. If I’m prime minister, I look forward to the opportunity to build that,” the economist-turned-politician had said.

India has also been at the receiving end of the tariff tirade launched by the Trump administration and has moved to negotiate a trade agreement with the US.

The relations between New Delhi and Ottawa had hit a new low on September 18, 2023, when Trudeau had accused India of having a role in the killing of Khalistani Sikh terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Canada. Ottawa in October 2024 had gone on to accuse New Delhi’s envoy to Ottawa, Sanjay Kumar Verma, and his five colleagues of having a role in the June 18, 2023, killing.

New Delhi had withdrawn Verma and its other diplomats in the North American country after denying Ottawa’s request to waive their diplomatic immunity and to make them available for questioning by the police investigators in connection with the murder of Nijjar. India had also expelled six diplomats of Canada.

India exported goods worth $5.35 billion to Canada in 2023. The merchandise exports from Canada to India in the same year were worth $6.85 billion.

Carney’s words indicated that he might be interested in a reset in New Delhi’s ties with Ottawa and restarting the stalled talks for a bilateral Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement, in order to lessen the impact of Trump’s trade war against Canada.

Apart from the positive statements made by Carney, what also made New Delhi hopeful for a turnaround in the bilateral relations with Ottawa is the poor performance of the New Democratic Party (NDP), led by Jagmeet Singh, who was known to be a supporter of the Khalistanis campaigning against India in Canada and played a key role in wrecking the bilateral relations during the tenure of Trudeau.