India and Canada are well beyond reset now, says Canadian High Commissioner to India

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Canadian High Commissioner to India Christopher Cooter in conversation with The Hindu ’s Diplomatic Affairs Editor Suhasini Haidar at The Hindu MIND event. | Photo Credit: Sushil Kumar Verma

T hree years after India-Canada ties were blown apart by allegations that Indian officials were involved in the killing of a Khalistani activist in Canada, and New Delhi and Ottawa downsized missions and sent back High Commissioners, both sides celebrated restoring embassies back to full strength this week. In a wide-ranging conversation at T he Hindu MIND event moderated by Suhasini Haidar, Canadian High Commissioner to India Christopher Cooter said the two countries have now gone well beyond a reset in ties. He also confirmed that they are discussing a bilateral visit by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Canada this December, when the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) will be announced. Mr. Cooter, however, sidestepped questions about whether Canada owes India an apology for the public allegations that spurred the rift. Edited excerpts:

Suhasini Haidar: You took charge of India-Canada ties at a time when relations hit rock bottom. Would you call yourself the reset ambassador?

It’s taken us some time to get here. It’s been over a year since Prime Minister Modi was invited to the G7 summit at Kananaskis in Alberta. But we have built momentum. I happened to arrive at the time that we started this reset, and now we have gone well beyond a reset. We are in a kind of dangerous time globally. We have two very hot wars going on (the Russia-Ukraine conflict and the West Asia conflict). We’ve got trade disruptions going on. We’ve got climate change. We’ve got AI, the challenge and opportunity. And it happens to be that this period in which we are re-establishing our relationship is the one that works the best for us. In all of the 80 years or so that we have had diplomatic relations, I don’t think we have ever had an environment which draws us together in that same way.

Suhasini Haidar: Do you see a big announcement round the corner? Prime Minister Narendra Modi is heading to North America in December for the G20 summit in the U.S. Do you expect his first bilateral visit in more than a decade this year?

Yes, a continuing string of events over the last year will culminate this year, we expect, in the visit of Prime Minister Modi to Canada. The two Prime Ministers, when Prime Minister [Mark] Carney came here in March, set out this kind of road map in a joint statement. I think it has 50 or more deliverables and we are trying to fulfil those commitments. There are commercial deals in the offing. There’s a broader range of areas where we are doing things together, for example, in defence. So, it’ll become a bit more tangible to the average person. In October, we have the largest trade mission coming to Mumbai and Bengaluru.

Suhasini Haidar: Have Canada-India trade relations been spurred by the Donald Trump administration’s actions? And will the push remain once Canada and the U.S.