Prime Minister Mark Carney's efforts to rebuild Canada's fractured relationship with India proceeded despite a critical, unmet condition advised by his top officials: a public commitment from India on accountability.
The Unmet Condition
Internal documents reveal that in May 2025, as Carney prepared to restart engagement, his foreign and defence policy advisor from the Privy Council Office explicitly recommended that any reset should require a "public commitment from India" regarding accountability measures. This advice came amid serious claims that Indian government agents were behind a series of criminal activities and murders on Canadian soil.
Months later, despite the Canadian government stating that India has agreed to increased collaboration, no such public commitment has materialized. This absence is fueling growing anxiety and anger within Sikh communities across Canada, who fear ongoing violence and political repression.
A Thawing Diplomatic Freeze
The push to reset relations marks a significant policy shift from the deep diplomatic freeze that began in 2023. That year, former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced Canada possessed credible evidence linking Indian government agents to the murder of Sikh leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar.
The situation deteriorated further by the fall of 2024, when Canada and India engaged in a tit-for-tat expulsion of dozens of each other's diplomats. Canadian officials at the time cited RCMP evidence connecting Indian agents to domestic crimes. Canada had formally requested that India waive diplomatic immunity to permit a police investigation, a request the Trudeau government said was denied.
Under Carney's leadership, the relationship has seen a notable thaw. This warming coincides with Canada's strategic goal to diversify its trade partners away from the United States amid an ongoing trade war.
Building Bridges and Personal Connections
Carney's first major step to mend fences occurred on June 17, 2025, at the G7 Summit in Kananaskis, Alberta. There, he formally invited Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the leaders' summit, asserting that India's economic power and central role in global supply chains warranted its inclusion.
Internally, a briefing note prepared for Carney ahead of his first official call with Modi highlighted that this invitation "sends a strong signal" of Canada's willingness to re-engage. The document also indicated that Canada had specific expectations for what it wanted from the renewed partnership.
The diplomatic outreach has been bolstered by Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand, Canada's first Hindu cabinet minister. She made her inaugural official trip to India this fall and recently spoke of her warm personal rapport with Modi at a Canada 2020 event in Ottawa on October 23.
"There was a lot of conversation when I was in the meeting with Modi, before we got to the technical things, about my parents and our life in India, and their life in India," Anand told the audience. She added that Modi generously offered to help her family spread her father's ashes in the Ganges River.
Despite these positive personal overtures and the broader thaw, the initial core demand for a public accountability commitment remains outstanding, leaving a key question unanswered for concerned communities in Canada.
