Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand says Canada must change its foreign policy focus. (Nick Iwanyshyn/The Canadian Press)
Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand says Canada continues to take public safety, transnational repression and foreign interference seriously as it negotiates a trade agreement with India — a country Ottawa once iced out over allegations it was involved in the killing of a Sikh activist on Canadian soil.
“It is extremely important to take these types of issues very seriously, and we do,” Anand told CBC’s Power & Politics on Monday. “And that’s not just with India, it’s with all countries. Public safety and security is always a top priority as a government.”
Anand told host David Cochrane the federal government is “recalibrating the economic relationship” while ensuring Canadian law enforcement agencies continue to do their work independently and unabated.
Anand’s comments come on the heels of Canada and India announcing they’ve agreed to launch negotiations toward a new trade deal.
The news came on Sunday, shortly after Prime Minister Mark Carney met with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the G20 summit in Johannesburg, South Africa.
Prime Minister Mark Carney takes part in a bilateral meeting with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the G20 summit on Sunday. (Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press)
In a social media post published Sunday afternoon, Carney said a trade deal could double Canada-India trade to $70 billion.
“India is the world’s fifth-largest economy, and that means big new opportunities for Canadian workers and businesses,” the prime minister said.
It’s the latest sign that diplomatic relations between Canada and India are thawing after a deep freeze over Canadian allegations that Indian agents were linked to the extrajudicial killing of Canadian Sikh activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar in 2023.
Anand said the global trading environment has “fundamentally changed” — a reference to U.S. President Donald Trump’s global tariff regime — and “therefore, it is necessary for Canada as well to change its focus in terms of our foreign policy.”
She insisted that Canada’s “core values” like protecting democratic institutions against transnational repression remain infused in its foreign policy.
“We are not retreating from our core values. At the same time, we are ensuring responsibly that we are building our trade relationships and we are defending and protecting our country,” Anand said.
India’s high commissioner says ‘building blocks’ of relationship with Canada unchanged despite chill
Chief political correspondent Rosemary Barton speaks with Indian High Commissioner to Canada Dinesh Patnaik about the trade discussions between Prime Minister Mark Carney and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and the friction still between the two countries.
Dinesh Patnaik, India’s high commissioner to Canada, said in an interview on CBC’s Rosemary Barton Live on Sunday that the two countries have been discussing trade for months.
Patnaik told host Rosemary Barton that Canada should not set aside security concerns to pursue stronger ties with India “like we don’t set our concerns aside.”
“The whole thing is both countries are mature enough to understand that we need to have a relationship where we discuss how people can be safe on the streets,” he said. “Canadians safe on Canadian streets, Indians safe on Indian streets.”
Sikh activists reject Carney’s approach
The Canada-India trade announcement came out the same day as Canadian Sikhs gathered in Ottawa for a referendum as part of a campaign for an independent Sikh Punjab, called “Khalistan” by Sikh nationalists.
One of the organizations leading that campaign is Sikhs for Justice, whose Canadian chapter was headed by Nijjar until his assassination.
In a news release sent out Sunday evening, Sikhs for Justice said more than 53,000 Canadian Sikhs from across Canada cast ballots in the referendum.
Who was Hardeep Singh Nijjar, the man India is accused of killing?
Hardeep Singh Nijjar was a pro-Khalistan activist and the president of a Sikh temple in Surrey, B.C. His day job was working as a plumber. For years, the Indian government called him a terrorist — a claim Nijjar repeatedly denied. So, who was Nijjar, and why did India think he was such a danger?
Sikhs for Justice added that the turnout was both an independence vote and “a clear message that Canadian Sikhs do not support the Carney government’s engagement with India.”
The Indian government has previously described the referendum movement as a provocation and an attack on its sovereignty.
On Sunday, Patnaik called the referendum “farcical” and said it’s a sensitive subject in India.
Before his meeting with Modi, Carney told reporters that Canada views India as a reliable trading partner and that an agreement would help scale up trade with “one of the world’s largest and fastest-growing economies.”
The prime minister also emphasized that Canada has to remain vigilant on any forms of foreign interference, and he said Canada has established co-operation with Indian law enforcement and national security advisers.
“There’s engagement with a variety of nations on protecting Canadians, and we will continue to do that,” Carney said.
Canada deepening ties with India against backdrop of security dialogue: Anand
Canada and India have agreed to launch negotiations toward a new deal that could double bilateral trade to $70 billion. Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand tells Power & Politics economic growth conversations are happening against the backdrop of law enforcement dialogue between the countries.
