The Pulse | Diplomacy | South Asia

Canada-India Relations Stabilize With PM Carney’s Visit

The two sides sealed a $1.9 billion commercial deal for long term supply of uranium to support India’s civilian nuclear energy program.

Canadian Prime Minister Carney at the launch of the Canada-India Talent and Innovation Strategy, which includes 13 new university partnerships, at New Delhi, India, Mar. 1, 2026.

India and Canada concluded eight agreements and a slew of other pacts spanning trade, energy, agriculture and space, during the visit of Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney to India between February 27 and March 2.

Relations between the two countries were mired in bitter recrimination until recently, and the pacts signed during Carney’s visit, though mainly preliminary in nature, mark a significant step forward on the road to normalization of ties.

Carney’s visit came at a time when India and Canada are looking to diversify their partnerships in an increasingly uncertain world, rocked by turbulence triggered by U.S. President Donald Trump’s unilateral tariffs and worsened by several ongoing military conflicts.

“A strong, resilient, and forward-looking partnership between two vibrant democracies contributes meaningfully to mutual prosperity and to advancing shared global priorities,” the Canada-India joint statement said.

“India is the fastest-growing major economy and a powerhouse of global commerce and technology. In a rapidly changing world, Canada and India are transforming their economies to be more diversified, more independent, and more resilient,” Carney said in a statement. “Our strategic partnership, and the speed at which we are working to unleash its potential in energy, talent, and AI, is the result of two confident, ambitious nations who want to build the future, together.”

A key takeaway of Carney’s visit was an approximately US$1.9 billion (CA$2.6 billion) commercial deal between the Saskatoon-based Cameco and India’s Department of Atomic Energy for the long-term supply of uranium. This is aimed at supporting India’s civil nuclear energy generation, clean energy transition objectives and long-term energy security, the joint statement said.

This was Carney’s first bilateral visit to India since taking office last year. It follows his comments at the World Economic Forum at Davos in January, where he spoke of a “rupture in the world order,” and warned that “middle powers must act together, because if we’re not at the table, we’re on the menu.”

With both Canada and India at the receiving end of U.S. President Donald Trump’s punitive tariffs and threats, the two countries announced their decision to conclude a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) covering goods and services this year. “Once concluded, the CEPA will significantly strengthen India–Canada economic engagement and accelerate progress toward achieving the bilateral trade target of  $50 billion by 2030,” a second Indian statement said. Bilateral trade stands at $10 billion at present.

A comprehensive trade framework “would serve as a durable economic anchor for the partnership,” the Canada-India joint statement said, while a readout from Carney’s office said “strong, stable cooperation” in trade was “foundational” to the Canada-India strategic partnership. A reconstituted Canada-India CEOs Forum will “identify new opportunities in trade, investment, innovation, and supply chain resilience, and to provide actionable recommendations to support CEPA negotiations and broader economic objectives,” the joint statement added.

Carney and Modi also greenlighted the Finance Ministers’ Economic and Financial Dialogue that will address subjects like instant payments, cross-border remittances, and merchant payments. This is expected to boost bilateral trade, tourism, education, remittances, and growth for small and medium enterprises in both countries.

Two exploratory pacts to intensify cooperation on critical minerals and energy sources were also reached. A new Strategic Energy Partnership that provides for collaboration on clean energy was announced, under which Canada will supply India with LPG and LNG. While India’s purchase of discounted Russian oil drew a steep 25 percent tariff from Washington last year, Canada is looking for new energy partners in the context of Trump’s threats to cut fuel sourcing from it.

Cooperation in clean energy, agriculture, and academics, besides exploring ways to integrate AI into space and aerospace technologies, were among the other initiatives agreed upon.

Expansion of military cooperation through joint training and exchanges, a new Maritime Security Partnership in supply chain resilience, the institutionalizing of a Canada-India Defense Dialogue, and the appointment of defense attaches were among the key takeaways in defense and security cooperation.

The two sides welcomed progress made by a national security advisers’ dialogue and an agreement on cooperation in national security and law enforcement matters. Both countries have agreed to deepen cooperation “to address issues relating to violent extremism, terrorism, organized crime,” besides extortion, financial fraud and related activities, the joint statement said.

This comes against the backdrop of bilateral relations falling in 2023 to their lowest levels in decades over remarks by then-Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau about the involvement of “agents of the Indian government” in the murder of a Canadian Sikh national, Hardeep Singh Nijjar. Nijjar, a supporter of a separate homeland for Sikhs in India, was shot dead in British Columbia in June 2023. New Delhi has vehemently denied any involvement in his killing. In 2024, Canada expelled six Indian diplomats, including India’s top envoy to Ottawa, on charges that agents linked to the Indian government were engaged in intimidation and extortion of Canadian citizens. India retaliated by expelling Canadian diplomats.

Fresh allegations that an Indian official working in India’s consulate in Vancouver supplied information about Nijjar to his killers came up in a Canadian media report on the day Carney met Modi in New Delhi. India’s secretary east in the Ministry of External Affairs, P Kumaran, briefing reporters on the Carney visit, categorically denied any Indian involvement in transnational violence or organized crime.

Although both sides ensured that media reports would not derail Carney’s visit, it is evident that controversies continue to cast their shadow over bilateral relations and require much deft handling on the part of both governments.

India has regularly voiced concerns about what it calls “anti-India activities” of sections of the Sikh population in Canada. Almost all of them trace their roots to the northwestern Indian state of Punjab, which witnessed a violent insurgency in the 1980s and early 1990s with militants seeking an independent state of Khalistan carved out of Punjab. In 1985, the bombing of an Air India flight originating in Montreal and bound for India with 329 on board put the focus sharply on Sikh terrorists operating from Canada. Canadian authorities were criticized for not doing enough to prevent the attack, and later for bungling the investigation.

The Khalistan issue cast a shadow over a bilateral visit by Trudeau to India in 2018, when a convicted Khalistani activist from Canada was invited to a reception by the Canadian High Commission in New Delhi. Although the invitation was rescinded, the damage was done. That Trudeau kept his meeting with Modi as the last of his engagements in India after several stops in other parts of the country rankled.

Compared to the Trudeau visit, Carney’s recent India tour was seen as carefully choreographed with the aim of mending ties. The focus was strictly business. Carney kept his engagements confined to India’s financial hub, Mumbai, and political capital, New Delhi. Unlike Trudeau, there was no visit to Punjab.

Bilateral relations that were frosty during the Trudeau era began to thaw with Carney inviting Modi to the G-7 Summit in Alberta last year, where the two engaged in talks. They met again on the margins of the G-20 in Johannesburg. These interactions have been followed through with ministerial conversations among foreign, trade and energy ministers.

“There has been more engagement between the Canadian and Indian governments in the last year than in the two previous decades combined,” Carney told reporters after talks with Modi in New Delhi.

“This is not merely the renewal of a relationship. It is the expansion of a valued partnership with new ambition, focus, and foresight — a partnership between two confident countries charting our course for the future,” Carney added.

Ties have been reset, and the two sides have an ambitious agenda ahead. The global environment makes the atmosphere conducive for both countries to move forward on the new path. While security concerns and business cooperation are working on parallel tracks, care must be taken to ensure the former doesn’t impinge on or upset the latter. “A successful partnership will require more honest conversations and mutual respect in public dealings on differences between them,” an editorial in The Hindu newspaper noted.

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India and Canada concluded eight agreements and a slew of other pacts spanning trade, energy, agriculture and space, during the visit of Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney to India between February 27 and March 2.

Relations between the two countries were mired in bitter recrimination until recently, and the pacts signed during Carney’s visit, though mainly preliminary in nature, mark a significant step forward on the road to normalization of ties.

Carney’s visit came at a time when India and Canada are looking to diversify their partnerships in an increasingly uncertain world, rocked by turbulence triggered by U.S. President Donald Trump’s unilateral tariffs and worsened by several ongoing military conflicts.

“A strong, resilient, and forward-looking partnership between two vibrant democracies contributes meaningfully to mutual prosperity and to advancing shared global priorities,” the Canada-India joint statement said.

“India is the fastest-growing major economy and a powerhouse of global commerce and technology. In a rapidly changing world, Canada and India are transforming their economies to be more diversified, more independent, and more resilient,” Carney said in a statement. “Our strategic partnership, and the speed at which we are working to unleash its potential in energy, talent, and AI, is the result of two confident, ambitious nations who want to build the future, together.”

A key takeaway of Carney’s visit was an approximately US$1.9 billion (CA$2.6 billion) commercial deal between the Saskatoon-based Cameco and India’s Department of Atomic Energy for the long-term supply of uranium. This is aimed at supporting India’s civil nuclear energy generation, clean energy transition objectives and long-term energy security, the joint statement said.

This was Carney’s first bilateral visit to India since taking office last year. It follows his comments at the World Economic Forum at Davos in January, where he spoke of a “rupture in the world order,” and warned that “middle powers must act together, because if we’re not at the table, we’re on the menu.”

With both Canada and India at the receiving end of U.S. President Donald Trump’s punitive tariffs and threats, the two countries announced their decision to conclude a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) covering goods and services this year. “Once concluded, the CEPA will significantly strengthen India–Canada economic engagement and accelerate progress toward achieving the bilateral trade target of  $50 billion by 2030,” a second Indian statement said. Bilateral trade stands at $10 billion at present.

A comprehensive trade framework “would serve as a durable economic anchor for the partnership,” the Canada-India joint statement said, while a readout from Carney’s office said “strong, stable cooperation” in trade was “foundational” to the Canada-India strategic partnership. A reconstituted Canada-India CEOs Forum will “identify new opportunities in trade, investment, innovation, and supply chain resilience, and to provide actionable recommendations to support CEPA negotiations and broader economic objectives,” the joint statement added.

Carney and Modi also greenlighted the Finance Ministers’ Economic and Financial Dialogue that will address subjects like instant payments, cross-border remittances, and merchant payments. This is expected to boost bilateral trade, tourism, education, remittances, and growth for small and medium enterprises in both countries.

Two exploratory pacts to intensify cooperation on critical minerals and energy sources were also reached. A new Strategic Energy Partnership that provides for collaboration on clean energy was announced, under which Canada will supply India with LPG and LNG. While India’s purchase of discounted Russian oil drew a steep 25 percent tariff from Washington last year, Canada is looking for new energy partners in the context of Trump’s threats to cut fuel sourcing from it.

Cooperation in clean energy, agriculture, and academics, besides exploring ways to integrate AI into space and aerospace technologies, were among the other initiatives agreed upon.

Expansion of military cooperation through joint training and exchanges, a new Maritime Security Partnership in supply chain resilience, the institutionalizing of a Canada-India Defense Dialogue, and the appointment of defense attaches were among the key takeaways in defense and security cooperation.

The two sides welcomed progress made by a national security advisers’ dialogue and an agreement on cooperation in national security and law enforcement matters. Both countries have agreed to deepen cooperation “to address issues relating to violent extremism, terrorism, organized crime,” besides extortion, financial fraud and related activities, the joint statement said.

This comes against the backdrop of bilateral relations falling in 2023 to their lowest levels in decades over remarks by then-Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau about the involvement of “agents of the Indian government” in the murder of a Canadian Sikh national, Hardeep Singh Nijjar. Nijjar, a supporter of a separate homeland for Sikhs in India, was shot dead in British Columbia in June 2023. New Delhi has vehemently denied any involvement in his killing. In 2024, Canada expelled six Indian diplomats, including India’s top envoy to Ottawa, on charges that agents linked to the Indian government were engaged in intimidation and extortion of Canadian citizens. India retaliated by expelling Canadian diplomats.

Fresh allegations that an Indian official working in India’s consulate in Vancouver supplied information about Nijjar to his killers came up in a Canadian media report on the day Carney met Modi in New Delhi. India’s secretary east in the Ministry of External Affairs, P Kumaran, briefing reporters on the Carney visit, categorically denied any Indian involvement in transnational violence or organized crime.

Although both sides ensured that media reports would not derail Carney’s visit, it is evident that controversies continue to cast their shadow over bilateral relations and require much deft handling on the part of both governments.

India has regularly voiced concerns about what it calls “anti-India activities” of sections of the Sikh population in Canada. Almost all of them trace their roots to the northwestern Indian state of Punjab, which witnessed a violent insurgency in the 1980s and early 1990s with militants seeking an independent state of Khalistan carved out of Punjab. In 1985, the bombing of an Air India flight originating in Montreal and bound for India with 329 on board put the focus sharply on Sikh terrorists operating from Canada. Canadian authorities were criticized for not doing enough to prevent the attack, and later for bungling the investigation.

The Khalistan issue cast a shadow over a bilateral visit by Trudeau to India in 2018, when a convicted Khalistani activist from Canada was invited to a reception by the Canadian High Commission in New Delhi. Although the invitation was rescinded, the damage was done. That Trudeau kept his meeting with Modi as the last of his engagements in India after several stops in other parts of the country rankled.

Compared to the Trudeau visit, Carney’s recent India tour was seen as carefully choreographed with the aim of mending ties. The focus was strictly business. Carney kept his engagements confined to India’s financial hub, Mumbai, and political capital, New Delhi. Unlike Trudeau, there was no visit to Punjab.

Bilateral relations that were frosty during the Trudeau era began to thaw with Carney inviting Modi to the G-7 Summit in Alberta last year, where the two engaged in talks. They met again on the margins of the G-20 in Johannesburg. These interactions have been followed through with ministerial conversations among foreign, trade and energy ministers.

“There has been more engagement between the Canadian and Indian governments in the last year than in the two previous decades combined,” Carney told reporters after talks with Modi in New Delhi.

“This is not merely the renewal of a relationship. It is the expansion of a valued partnership with new ambition, focus, and foresight — a partnership between two confident countries charting our course for the future,” Carney added.

Ties have been reset, and the two sides have an ambitious agenda ahead. The global environment makes the atmosphere conducive for both countries to move forward on the new path. While security concerns and business cooperation are working on parallel tracks, care must be taken to ensure the former doesn’t impinge on or upset the latter. “A successful partnership will require more honest conversations and mutual respect in public dealings on differences between them,” an editorial in The Hindu newspaper noted.

Elizabeth Roche is Associate Professor at the Jindal School of International Affairs, OP Jindal Global University, Haryana, India.

Carney's visit to India

India-Canada relations

India-Canada uranium supply

Khalistanis in Canada

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