Canada-India ties headed for a reset as Carney succeeds Trudeau

India-Canada ties may be headed for a reset, with former central banker Mark Carney winning the polls to succeed Justin Trudeau as leader of the Liberal Party and Canada’s Prime Minister.

Any effective change is, however, unlikely before Canada’s next federal election, analysts said.

Carney, 59, this week got 86% of the votes cast to beat former finance minister Chrystia Freeland in an election where just about 152,000 party members voted.

Trudeau said in January that he would step down after over nine years in power as his approval rating plunged, forcing his party to run a poll to replace him.

In the past, Carney has indicated his intent to “rebuild” Canada’s ties with India that rapidly deteriorated under Trudeau since September 2023.

Nathalie G. Drouin, the National Security and Intelligence Advisor to the Prime Minister of Canada, is expected to visit New Delhi in the coming days to meet National Security Advisor Ajit Doval in this regard, a person aware of the matter told Press Insider.

Drouin and Doval previously met in Singapore last October, when the former claimed to have evidence linking Indian officials to proxy intelligence operations targeting Canadians, allegedly connected to criminal groups like Lawrence Bishnoi’s.

In the context of ongoing diplomatic tensions over Hardeep Singh Nijjar’s killing, India’s ministry of external affairs maintains that Ottawa has not shared any evidence linking Indian agents to the incident.

Nijjar, a Canada-based Sikh separatist leader advocating for Khalistan, a proposed independent Sikh state, was killed in June 2023 in British Columbia.

His death escalated diplomatic tensions between India and Canada after Canadian authorities suggested potential involvement by Indian agents—allegations India strongly denies.

Nijjar was considered a terrorist by Indian authorities, who accused him of involvement in extremist activities linked to the Khalistan movement.

A date for Carney’s swearing-in has not been announced, but it will likely occur shortly.

“For any overt and concrete action on the ground and improvement in relations which were mired by Trudeau’s policies, we should wait for him (Carney) to take over and win the next elections,” Anil Trigunayat. former Indian ambassador to Canada, said.

The next Canadian federal elections are scheduled to take place on or before 20 October. If the Prime Minister advises the Governor General to dissolve parliament, the election could be called earlier. It is likely that Carney will call for early elections.

Speaking to the media ahead of his victory, Carney stressed the importance of diversifying Canada’s trade relationship with “like-minded countries,” and highlighted India as (Canada’s) key partner.

“There are opportunities to rebuild the relationship with India. There needs to be a shared sense of values around that commercial relationship. If I am Prime Minister, I look forward to the opportunity to build that,” he said.