NEW DELHI: Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney arrived in Mumbai on Friday on his first official visit to India, as the two countries seek to strengthen ties after years of diplomatic difficulties.
India is Carney’s first stop on an Asia-Pacific tour that also includes Australia and Japan — a trip aimed at unlocking new opportunities in trade, energy, technology and defense.
He is scheduled to meet Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday for wide-ranging talks that includes trade, investment, critical minerals, and agriculture.
“The visit comes at an important juncture in the normalization of India-Canada bilateral relations,” the Indian Ministry of External Affairs said.
“The two prime ministers have agreed to pursue a constructive and balanced partnership grounded in mutual respect for each other’s concerns and sensitivities, strong people-to-people ties, and growing economic complementarities.”
In Mumbai, Carney is scheduled to meet with business leaders “to identify investment opportunities in Canada and create new partnerships between businesses in both nations,” his office said in a statement.
Relations between India and Canada soured in 2023, after Canada’s then-Prime Minister Justin Trudeau accused the Indian government of orchestrating the assassination of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a Canadian citizen who was also a prominent Sikh separatist — a claim that the Indian government has repeatedly denied.
Bilateral relations began to thaw in June 2025, when Modi visited Alberta at Carney’s invitation to attend the G7 Summit. This was followed by a meeting between the two on the sidelines of the Group of 20 Summit in Johannesburg last year, said Vikas Swarup, former High Commissioner of India to Canada.
“Now that Prime Minister Carney is coming to India, this marks the culmination of that process,” he told Arab News. “But this visit is not just a reset. It is also an elevation of bilateral ties. Because if you look at the number of areas this visit will discuss from trade, technology, energy, AI, critical minerals, defense… You will see an across-the-board uptick in India-Canada relations as a result of the momentum generated by this visit.”
When ties reached their lowest point in 2024 as both countries expelled their respective high commissioners, it became clear that this was “not a sustainable” arrangement.
“I think Canada — which is now trying desperately to diversify away from its total dependence on the United States, with the unpredictability introduced by President Trump — needs more partners,” Swarup said. “And that’s why it’s a reactivation of the Indo-Pacific strategy. And, of course, India is central to the Indo-Pacific strategy. So that is why Canada is now making this overture to India, and I think India is also reciprocating.”
The US is Canada’s largest trading partner, accounting for about 72 percent of Canadian merchandise exports in 2025.
Closer ties to Canada will likely benefit India, owing to the North American country’s status as an energy superpower. Canada is the world’s fourth-largest oil producer and fifth-largest producer of natural gas.
During his visit, Carney is expected to sign a 10-year, C$2.8 billion ($2.05 billion) uranium supply deal to fuel India’s growing fleet of nuclear reactors.
Delhi is also keen on forging a “closer partnership” with Canada, which hosts about 2.2 million people of Indian origin.
“That’s a living bridge between India and Canada. And Canada has all the technology, has all the finances, and all the resources that India needs,” Swarup said. “India, of course, provides the manpower and the market, so I think it’s a win-win partnership for both sides.”
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