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India and Canada Reset: Pragmatism Takes Precedence Over Recriminations

Carney has opted for energetic, pragmatic action – including repairing ties with India – in the face of U.S. instability.

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney’s four-day trip to India, taking place from February 27 to March 2, 2026, marked a significant shift in relations between the two countries. In a turbulent world characterized by disruptions in trade, security, and politics largely influenced by Trump-era U.S. policies, both New Delhi and Ottawa appeared eager to put aside their recent conflicts and develop a strategic partnership. Although some fundamental differences remain, the visit conveys a message of pragmatism and a high dose of optimism aimed at overcoming recent troubles.

The visit came a month after Carney’s address at the World Economic Forum in Davos on January 20, wherein he stunned attendees with his clear-eyed assessment of the need to move beyond shock at the disruptive position taken by U.S. President Donald Trump and move to construct a viable new order. Unlike his predecessor, Justin Trudeau, whose eight-day official visit to India in February 2018 contained only half-a-day’s official engagement, Carney came prepared to make the most of his official invitation. At Davos he’d remarked that “we’re not at the table, we’re on the menu,” opining that middle powers must secure their place in a fragmented global order or risk being victimized. In New Delhi, he recognized India as more than a typical middle power, one whose potential and global ambitions go well beyond. 

In September 2023, the Indian media derided Trudeau as his plane developed a technical snag, compelling him to extend his stay in New Delhi during his trip to attend the G-20 summit. Trudeau, seen as sympathetic toward the supporters of Sikh separatism in Canada, had a tense meeting with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, not least because the latter had been accused by Ottawa of conducting lethal covert operations on Canadian soil. 

Amid a stunning shift in the global context, during Carney’s visit both countries focused on more immediate concerns. With New Delhi’s rising influence in mind, Carney seemed to have prepared well to indulge New Delhi’s sense of ostentation in order to achieve tangible results. 

The visit thus resulted in a slew of accords spanning food, energy, critical minerals, space, defense, education, AI and emerging technologies, each having the potential to bind the two nations in a shared economic future. Of particular importance was a nuclear energy deal involving the supply of uranium from Canada to India. India’s energy needs are projected to double by 2050. While oil and gas are expected to dominate the global energy mix, New Delhi is betting big on nuclear power to fill the gap, insulate itself from events like the ongoing Iran-Israel-U.S. war. India currently has 24 operating reactors along with ambitious plans to deploy dozens more to generate 100 GW of electricity by 2047. Canada, in fact, had been the original source of India’s first major nuclear research reactor, CIRUS, which was provided in an arrangement that also included the United States. The reactor went critical in July 1960. 

Many decades and much progress later, an uninterrupted supply of uranium is a must for India, and that’s where Canada has stepped in by promising a steady supply. In a deal worth $1.91 billion, Canadian firm Cameco will supply uranium ore concentrate to India for nuclear energy from 2027 to 2035. Cameco previously supplied uranium to India under a five-year contract between 2015 and 2020. The new deal gives Ottawa crucial........

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