New York: Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand is set to visit China and India in the coming weeks as Canada seeks to repair and strengthen its strained relationships with the two major Asian economies.
Anand said she’ll meet with her counterparts in those countries and discuss ways to cooperate amid the issues that have plagued relationships in recent years — including a tariff battle with China and accusations of transnational repression and violence by India, as reported by Bloomberg.
Canada must “ensure we have a bilateral relationship with significant economic powers in the Indo-Pacific,” Anand said in an interview on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly meetings in New York. “The work that we will do with these partners is to ensure that Canada’s interests are at the forefront.”
Earlier in June, Prime Minister Narendra Modi met with his Canadian counterpart Mark Carney on the sidelines of the G7 summit in Kananaskis. The two leaders agreed to take “constructive” steps toward stabilising and strengthening India-Canada relations.
Ties between the two countries had sharply deteriorated after former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau alleged a possible Indian involvement in the killing of Khalistani supporter Hardeep Singh Nijjar. In response, India recalled its high commissioner and five other diplomats in October last year, after Ottawa tried to link them to the case. Canada faced reciprocal expulsions of its diplomats.
However, the situation began to improve following Liberal Party leader Mark Carney’s victory in the April parliamentary elections, which paved the way for a diplomatic reset.
