Prime Minister Mark Carney met with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi Monday, before the two announced a series of agreements, including a strategic energy partnership.
"There has been more engagement between the Canadian and Indian governments in the last year than there has been in the last two decades combined," Carney said in joint remarks with Modi.
"So this is not merely the renewal of a relationship. It is the expansion of a valued partnership with new ambition."
The agreements announced by Carney and Modi on Monday include a $2.6 billion agreement in which Saskatoon-based Cameco would supply just under 22 million pounds of uranium to India for nuclear energy generation, and two memorandums of understanding that cover topics including critical minerals and energy sources.
A government release says the visit also led to 10 commercial agreements worth more than $5.5 billion.
The Carney-Modi meetings — a bilateral with respective delegations followed by a 35-minute private one-on-one — ran long, leading to the cancellation of the lunch meeting with additional staff and the delay of a joint announcement.
Then, a news conference with Carney, the first time the prime minister was set to answer questions from the media since the trip began Thursday, was cancelled just before it was scheduled to begin.
Carney's government has been under pressure to clarify whether it believes India is still engaged in foreign interference. The Globe and Mail published a report late Sunday about the alleged role Indian consular staff played in the murder of a Canadian Sikh activist three years ago.
Hardeep Singh Nijjar, an advocate for an independent Sikh homeland and president of the Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara, was killed in Surrey, B.C., in June 2023.
The Globe and Mail cited two anonymous sources who said consular staff in Vancouver provided information to help with the killing.
A news release suggested Carney had raised the issue of foreign interference, noting the prime minister had "underscored that Canada will continue to take measures to combat transnational repression."
Earlier in the trip, Carney first announced the two countries were working toward signing a comprehensive trade deal by the end of the year. Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand also announced a new Canada-India strategy on talent and innovation, which includes 13 new partnerships between Canadian and Indian universities.
Carney landed in India on Friday, the first visit by a Canadian prime minister since diplomatic relations disintegrated two years ago, after then Prime Minister Justin Trudeau accused agents of the Indian government of being involved in Nijjar's killing.
After the allegations around Nijjar's death, the RCMP said there was evidence of a wider campaign of intimidation and violence.
Carney has set out to reset Canada's relationship with India, inviting Modi to the G7 summit Canada hosted last year.
In his remarks, Modi said Carney was responsible for the improved relationship.
"I give the entire credit for this increasing momentum in every area of co-operation to my friend, Prime Minister Carney," Modi said in remarks translated by the Indian government.
