Canadian Foreign Minister Melanie Joly will visit India next week for bilateral talks. While the official schedule has yet to be announced, he is expected to be in India on February 6 and 7, senior Canadian and Indian officials confirmed. Among other things, during the trip he will hold bilateral meetings with the Indian Minister of External Affairs S Jaishankar.
Joly was originally expected to make the trip in March for the G20 foreign ministers vertical and possibly also attend the Raisina dialogue, organized by the Observer Research Foundation with the Department of Foreign Affairs.
However, the fact that he is traveling earlier to a separate bilateral is indicative of the new emphasis Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government is placing on getting the disappointing relationship back on track.
Highlights of the agenda will include Canada’s new Indo-Pacific strategy, which was released last November, as well as ongoing discussions on the Early Progress Trade Agreement (EPTA).
India remains concerned about the activities of pro-Khalistan elements in Canada, and New Delhi was angered by two rounds of voting in the so-called non-binding Punjab referendum organized by the separatist group Sikhs for Justice (SFJ).
However, a senior Indian official said both sides were willing to engage in constructive dialogue to move relations forward. The situation in Ukraine, a year after Russia attacked the country, will also be an important part of the dialogue. Joly was actually expected to visit India in March last year, but that trip did not happen as Canada’s priority became the conflict in Ukraine.
Joly and Jaishankar spoke on 11 December. A senior Canadian official said at the time: “The call was positive and the ministers look forward to seeing each other soon in 2023.”
During this conversation, they discussed the new Indo-Pacific strategy. Canada has placed its Indo-Pacific strategy at the center of its engagement in the region, with India of particular importance, where it has been described as a “critical partner”.
He further added, “India’s strategic importance and leadership – across the region and globally – will only grow as India – the world’s largest democracy – becomes the world’s most populous country and continues to grow its economy.
Joly tweeted after the phone conversation that New Delhi and Ottawa “plan to work together to strengthen our people-to-people ties and advance our common interests” while India chairs the G20. The two ministers met in person in the summer of 2022 on the sidelines of the 2022 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Kigali, Rwanda.
