Canadian Foreign Minister Anita Anand arrived in New Delhi on Sunday, October 12, 2025, marking the start of a three-nation tour that also includes Singapore and China. This visit is her first to India since assuming the role of Foreign Minister in May and signals a crucial step in mending and strengthening the relationship between Canada and India.
Anand is scheduled to meet with Indian External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar and Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal in New Delhi. Discussions will focus on establishing a framework for strategic cooperation, particularly in trade diversification, energy transformation, and security. Both countries aim to identify mutually beneficial opportunities for businesses, capitalizing on the complementarities of their economies. The emphasis is on grounding economic, trade, and investment ties in mutual respect, trust, and balance.
In addition to New Delhi, Minister Anand will travel to Mumbai to engage with Canadian and Indian firms. These meetings will aim to bolster investment, create jobs, and expand economic opportunities in both Canada and India.
The visit is part of Canada's broader Indo-Pacific Strategy, which seeks to strengthen partnerships with key countries in the region. Anand stated her commitment to positioning Canada as a trusted and reliable partner for Indo-Pacific countries, highlighting the need for strong and stable partnerships abroad to ensure strength at home.
This visit occurs after a period of strained relations between India and Canada, which began in September 2023. However, a constructive meeting between Prime Ministers Mark Carney and Narendra Modi at the G7 Leaders' Summit in June 2025 paved the way for a diplomatic reset. Both leaders agreed to restart senior ministerial and working-level engagements in areas such as artificial intelligence (AI), liquefied natural gas (LNG), critical minerals, and supply chain resilience.
The agenda includes reactivating existing cooperation mechanisms like Ministerial-level Strategic, Trade and Energy Dialogues, Foreign Office Consultations, and sector-specific joint working groups. In September 2025, Canadian Deputy Foreign Minister David Morrison led a delegation to New Delhi for talks aimed at restoring stability in bilateral ties, with both sides agreeing to revive dialogue mechanisms across various sectors.
Trade remains a vital component of the discussions. While negotiations for a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) began in 2010 but stalled, efforts shifted to a limited Early Progress Trade Agreement, but were paused in September 2023. There is renewed interest in restarting these negotiations. In the interim, trade ministers from both countries have explored new avenues for boosting bilateral investments, technology partnerships, and overall economic cooperation. Key sectors for potential trade opportunities include clean technology, AI, agriculture, and critical minerals.
Despite political tensions, bilateral merchandise trade between India and Canada saw slight growth, with India's exports to Canada increasing in the fiscal year 2024-25.
Anand's visit is viewed as an opportunity to revitalize bilateral mechanisms, deepen economic cooperation, and strengthen people-to-people ties. It aims to build on the positive momentum in India-Canada relations following high-level engagements and diplomatic appointments. The visit also aligns with Canada's Indo-Pacific Strategy, emphasizing the importance of the region for Canada's global and regional economic and security priorities.
