Modi, Carney agree to build on 'positive momentum' as India-Canada ties find firmer ground
New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Tuesday that he had spoken with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, and that the two leaders agreed to build on the positive momentum in India-Canada ties and work towards concrete outcomes across key areas of their strategic partnership.
In a post on X, Modi described the conversation as "warm and productive" and said the two sides would focus on trade, energy, technology, security and people-to-people ties. "Together, India and Canada are contributing towards a more stable and prosperous world," he wrote.
The Prime Minister's post was the public account of the call available at the time of writing. No detailed joint readout was issued, and no date was announced either for a meeting between the two leaders or for the signing of specific agreements.
The conversation is the latest step in a cautious effort by both governments to steady a relationship that became one of the most strained in India's recent diplomatic history.
Relations plunged in 2023 after Canada's then prime minister, Justin Trudeau, said Canadian investigators had credible allegations linking Indian government agents to the killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a Canadian citizen and Sikh separatist leader, in Surrey, British Columbia, in June 2023. India rejected the allegations as "absurd" and motivated, and denied any involvement.
The dispute led to tit-for-tat expulsions of senior diplomats. Canada also withdrew dozens of its diplomatic staff from India after New Delhi indicated their immunity would not be extended. Visa services were disrupted, and negotiations on a proposed Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA), launched in 2010, were paused.
Mark Carney took office as Canada's prime minister in March 2025, succeeding Trudeau. The two leaders met in June 2025 on the margins of the G7 summit in Kananaskis, Alberta, which Modi attended as an invited guest. That was their first in-person meeting since Carney took charge in Ottawa.
Trade is expected to be a central item on the agenda. Two-way merchandise trade has remained modest relative to the size of both economies, and business groups on both sides have long pressed for a trade and investment agreement. Canada is a significant supplier of pulses, potash and uranium to India, while Indian pharmaceutical, automotive and services exports are of interest to Canadian buyers.
Canada is also home to a large Indian-origin population, numbering well over a million. Community ties are frequently described by both governments as a foundation of the relationship and they feature in the list of priority areas cited by the Prime Minister.
Energy and technology sit alongside security on that list. India has been seeking diversified sources of energy, including nuclear fuel and critical minerals, while Canada has been looking for markets beyond the United States. Cooperation on counter-terrorism and cyber security has figured in earlier rounds of engagement.
Officials and observers caution that repairing the relationship will take time. Differences over the 2023 allegations have not been publicly resolved, and the matter remains before Canadian courts. At the same time, both governments have signalled a preference for handling disputes through dialogue rather than public confrontation.
For now, the tangible outcome is limited to a stated intention: to keep talking and to translate the "positive momentum" into agreements. Whether that produces results in trade, energy or security will depend on the next round of official-level contacts, for which no schedule has been announced.
