'One step at a time': Canada's new foreign minister on rebuilding ties with India

Time of India

6 days ago

Anita Ananda (File photo)
Canada's new foreign affairs minister Anita Anand said on Thursday (local time) that the country's new government is taking "one step at a time" to rebuild the relationship with India.
The Canada-India ties suffered a major rupture in September, 2023, when Canada's then-Prime Minister Justin Trudeau accused India of a role in the murder in June that year of Hardeep Singh Nijjar. The Canadian national was a designated Khalistani terrorist in India.
India has denied the allegation.
'We are certainly taking it one step at a time. As I mentioned, the rule of law will never be compromised, and there is an ongoing investigation regarding the case that you mentioned,' Anand
told
The Globe And Mail, referring to the Nijjar murder.
'At the same time, we are looking forward to continuing to build this partnership, and we're looking forward to that as a government. It's part of the process of diversifying our relationships and building relationships around the world," she added.
The Oakville East MP's remarks come days after her May 25
phone call
with Indian counterpart, Subrahmanyam Jaishankar. Asked if she believes that the call is the beginning of a process that would lead to the exchange of high commissioners between India and Canada, Anand replied that Canada is approaching the relationship "incrementally."
Canada's and India's ambassador-level posts in each other's capitals remain vacant nearly two years into the diplomatic face-off.
Mark Carney, who succeeded Trudeau as Canada's prime minister in March, called a snap federal election in April. In the election, which was to be held by October, Carney led the Liberal Party to
victory
.
The Liberal Party has been in power in Canada since 2015.