NEW DELHI: India and Canada on Monday agreed to upgrade bilateral relations through renewed ministerial-level talks, a revived energy dialogue, and a fresh push on trade and technology cooperation.
The announcements followed a high-profile meeting in New Delhi between External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and Canadian Foreign Minister Anita Anand.
The joint statement issued after the talks described the renewed partnership as critical amid “ongoing global economic uncertainty and rising geopolitical tensions”, adding that closer cooperation between the two democracies would help build more resilient supply chains, strategic stability, and economic opportunities.
This marks a significant shift in tone after a period of diplomatic chill and follows months of careful re-engagement, beginning with the June meeting between PM Narendra Modi and Canadian PM Mark Carney on the sidelines of the G7 Summit. Since then, both countries have appointed new High Commissioners and reactivated bilateral mechanisms.
Anand, who also met with Prime Minister Modi during her visit, emphasised that the two countries were “elevating the relationship” while continuing security and law enforcement dialogue. Modi, in turn, welcomed Anand’s visit as a chance to “infuse fresh momentum” into ties and deepen collaboration across trade, energy, technology, agriculture, and people-to-people engagement.
A key outcome of the meeting was the decision to re-establish the Canada-India Ministerial Energy Dialogue (CIMED). Both sides committed to deeper cooperation on clean and secure energy, including investments in oil and gas exploration, green hydrogen, biofuels, and carbon capture technologies.
The dialogue also aims to strengthen power grid stability, share best practices on emission reduction and disaster resilience, and explore joint work on electric mobility and digital transformation in the energy sector. Speaking after the meeting, Jaishankar said recent developments marked “an important step in addressing our security concerns” and underscored the broad convergence between the two nations.
Key outcome of the meet was re-establishing CIMED
A key outcome of the meeting was re-establishing the Canada-India Ministerial Energy Dialogue (CIMED). Both sides committed to deeper cooperation on clean and secure energy “When we see Canada, we see a complementary economy, an open society, diversity, and pluralism—that form the basis of close cooperation,” Jaishankar said.