Canada PM Carney’s visit to India reset ties after 2023 killing of Sikh activist, Piyush Goyal says

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney’s recent visit to India has paved the way for a complete reset of Canada-India relations, Minister of Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal said in Ottawa.

Relations were strained under Mr. Carney’s predecessor following the 2023 killing of a Sikh activist in Canada.

Visiting Canada, Mr. Goyal’s remarks on Monday, May 25, 2026, came during his meeting with the North American country’s International Trade Minister Maninder Sidhu.

Mr. Goyal, in what New Delhi said was the largest business delegation to Canada, was accompanied by more than 100 senior business representatives from India’s mining, energy, automotive and aviation sectors.

“This is a partnership that reset very, very quickly,” Mr. Goyal said on Monday, May 25, 2026.

He said Mr. Carney’s visit in late February – the first by a Canadian Prime Minister in eight years – “completely changed the way Canada and India viewed each other.”

“He set in motion a path towards a complete overhaul of this relationship by setting new agendas and new goals,” he said.

Canada and India have been in trade talks since 2010. The talks were halted in 2023 after Canadian officials alleged India was involved in the killing of Canadian Sikh activist Hareep Singh Nijjar near Vancouver in June that year.

New Delhi has vehemently denied the allegations and accused the government of former Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of harboring Sikh extremists in the Khalistan movement.

Ahead of his meeting with Mr Sidhu, Mr Goyal said both countries were keen to reach a free trade agreement this year.

In India, Mr. Carney met with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the two sides signed a series of agreements, including a C$2.6 billion ($1.9 billion) deal to supply India with about 22 million pounds of uranium for nuclear power production.

A Canadian delegation was in New Delhi for trade talks earlier this month, and another Indian delegation plans to return to Canada to continue talks later this year.

Mr. Goyal also said that the two countries are working to triple their trade to $50 billion by 2030.

Mr. Goyal met with Carney and Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand in Ottawa. He will also meet with CEOs of leading companies, start-ups and pension funds.

Vina Nadjibulla, vice-president of research and strategy at the Canadian Asia Pacific Foundation, said both countries want to diversify their relationship and reduce their dependence on the United States, which is viewed as increasingly unreliable by some partners.

India recently signed trade agreements with the European Union, the United Kingdom and New Zealand.

“India is now turning to Europe as well as other Western economies such as Australia and Canada to meet its capital, technology and innovation needs,” Ms. Nadjibulla said.