Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney is visiting India in early March for a “business-like” bilateral visit. According to India’s High Commissioner in Ottawa, Dinesh Patnaik, the visit will last for two days and will cover the cities of New Delhi and Mumbai and has a wide-ranging agenda, including enhancing cooperation between the two countries in defence, trade, energy, agri-food and other areas.
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney. His India tour is in advanced stages of planning and the final dates are yet to be fixed, he is likely to be in India on March 1 and 2. (AFP)The tour is in an advanced stage of planning and the final dates are yet to be fixed, he may be in India on March 1 and 2.
He is expected to be accompanied by his wife Diana Fox Carney and several cabinet members, including Foreign Minister Anita Anand and Finance Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne, and possibly others.
High Commissioner Patnaik said the visit will be professional and business. “There will be a lot of deliverables on energy, including all aspects – nuclear, oil and gas, critical minerals. Also, education, research, innovation, AI. The most important thing is that we are two democracies, so there will be a lot of deliverables on how democracy works. Then defense will be an important aspect that we are looking at. From equipment to full gamic, manufacturing, etc. We are looking at what we can do together, be it space, space research and innovation, agri-food and CEPA (Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement).
“This visit is to show that India and Canada can interact in every possible area and area that defines the relationship between the two countries. So it is not limited to just one aspect. Every aspect of the relationship will be addressed and there will be many activities. We are looking at a comprehensive package,” he added.
According to people familiar with the tour’s plans, it will also include Japan and Australia. In short, it will cover the Quad countries minus the United States.
Since last week’s tragedy at Tumbler Ridge in British Columbia forced him to cancel his trip to the Munich Security Conference, this will be Carney’s first international trip since his speech in Davos last month in which he spoke of a “disintegration” in the rules-based world order.
This will mark the first bilateral visit by a Canadian Prime Minister to India in eight years. Then Prime Minister Justin Trudeau visited India in February 2018 but that 11-day trip proved to be a disaster as not only was his official engagement scheduled for the last few days of that extensive trip but Jaspal Atwal, convicted of murdering Punjab minister Malkiat Singh Sidhu on Vancouver Island, was turned into High Commission by the High Commission in 1986.
Kearney and Prime Minister Narendra Modi have already met twice this year. They first met after Carney invited Modi to the G7 Leaders’ Summit in Kananaskis in June 2025, signaling a resumption of ties. In November, on the sidelines of the G20 leaders’ summit in Johannesburg, the reset turned into a renewal with talks on CEPA announced after their meeting. Although Modi visited Kananaskis in June 2025, it was for a multilateral event and his last individual bilateral visit to Canada was in the spring of 2015 when Stephen Harper was prime minister.
Relations between Canada and India broke down in September 2023 when Trudeau told the House of Commons that there were “credible allegations” of a possible link between the killing of an Indian agent and pro-Khalistan figure Hardeep Singh Nizar in Surrey, British Columbia, on June 18 that year. India described the allegations as “unfounded” and “unprovoked”.
Relations improved after Carney succeeded Trudeau in March last year and then retained power in the April 2025 federal election.
“Prime Minister Karney’s visit will only put a stamp on this evolving relationship. It will provide the much needed boost,” Patnaik said, describing the upcoming visit as a “fresh start”.
