Mint Quick Edit | A change of PM made Canada and India embrace again
It’s a relief that Modi and Carney have moved to repair frayed relations. Let’s speed up to-be-revived talks on a trade deal and widen commercial ties. Make up for lost time.
Even though the full-fledged war brewing in West Asia had cast a shadow over the G7 agenda, significant geopolitical developments emerged from the summit in Canada.
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From India’s perspective, one key outcome is the revival of proper diplomatic ties with Ottawa after Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Canadian counterpart Mark Carney met along the sidelines.
They decided to reappoint high commissioners to each other’s countries. Ties had frayed over accusations traded over the killing of a Canadian citizen linked to separatism in India.
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Canada has had a change at the top since then. With Justin Trudeau replaced by Carney, repairing bilateral relations is easier. While India’s trade relationship with Canada is estimated to be under $10 billion annually, investments by Canadian funds in India are reported to exceed $50 billion. These commercial ties didn’t suffer noticeable strain, but talks on wider economic cooperation took a hit.
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Now that warmth is returning to New Delhi’s engagement with Ottawa, talks on an “early progress" trade deal are to be restarted. This is welcome. With the world in flux, we must lose no chance to build bridges.
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