Jaishankar, Anita Anand hold talks to reset India-Canada ties

Toronto: As the foreign ministers of India and Canada connected publicly on Sunday, the first time in over a year, it’s yet another indication that the Government of Prime Minister Mark Carney could make a genuine attempt to repair the relationship between the two countries.

Anita Anand sworn in as Canada’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, at Rideau Hall, in Ottawa, Ontario,on May 13. (REUTERS)

Canada’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Anita Anand spoke to External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Monday, and later, in a post on X, described the discussion as “productive”.

She thanked Jaishankar “for the productive discussion today on strengthening Canada–India ties, deepening our economic cooperation, and advancing shared priorities. I look forward to continuing our work together.”

India’s Minister of External Affairs Subrahmanyam Jaishankar (AFP)

In response, Jaishankar said, “Discussed the prospects of India-Canada ties. Wished her a very successful tenure.” He said he appreciated the telecon with his Canadian counterpart.

This is the first formal contact between the Foreign Ministers of the two countries since February 2024 when Anand’s predecessor counterpart Melanie Joly met Jaishankar on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference in Germany.

While they remained in contact in private, the relationship ruptured further in October last year when Ottawa asked New Delhi to waive diplomatic immunity for six Indian officials posted in Canada so they could be questioned in relation to violent criminal activity in the country. India withdrew the six officials, including then High Commissioner to Ottawa Sanjay Verma, and expelled six Canadian diplomats in retaliation.

The conversation on Monday was also the first public contact since then Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau briefly met his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi on the margins of the G7 Leaders’ Summit in Apulia, Italy in June last year, and also since the rift widened in October last year.

However, there are positive indications of a potential thaw after Carney became PM in March and when Anand was appointed Foreign Minister on May 13.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had congratulated Carney when it became clear on April 29 that he would lead the new Government in Ottawa and Jaishankar greeted Anand on her appointment.

“Carney wants a break for the decade of policy underTrudeau. India is part of that vision,” a person familiar with developments said.

Observers of ties between the two countries are waiting to see if Modi is invited to the G7 Leaders’ summit, which is scheduled to be held in Kananaskis in Alberta in mid-June, and whether he will accept such an invitation. The Canadian government is expected to announce the partner countries invited this week.

But there are expectations that there will be some improvement under Carney and with Anand handling the foreign affairs portfolio. As former Indian High Commissioner to Ottawa Ajay Bisaria said at the time of her appointment, “Her appointment should boost Canada’s diplomacy and strengthen India-Canada relations, given her strong track record of commitment to this relationship.”

The signals have so far been positive. In the last week of April, during the last weekend campaigning for the Federal election, he said, “It’s an incredibly important relationship, the Canada-India relationship, on many levels. On the personal level, with Canadians having deep personal ties, economically, strategically.”

Anand made a similar remark while seeking re-election from her riding (constituency) of Oakville East, when she said at the end of March, “We will make sure we have strong ties with nations whose people have immigrated here and settled here including my mother’s and father’s homeland of India.”

Relations between India and Canada nosedived when Trudeau stated in the House of Commons on September 18, 2023, that 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.