India's trade minister says visit by Canada's Carney reset ties after
2023 killing of Sikh activist
[May 26, 2026]
OTTAWA, Ontario (AP) — Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney's recent
visit to India has helped pave the way for a complete reset of
Canada-India relations, India's trade minister said Monday. The ties
were strained under Carney's predecessor in the wake of the 2023 killing
of a Sikh activist in Canada.
The remarks by India’s Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal, who
is visiting Canada, came as he met with Canada's International Trade
Minister and just before he met with Carney.
“We’re negotiating a free trade deal with India. This will be a game
changer for Canadian workers and businesses — unlocking a massive new
market,” Carney said in a social media post.
“We’re working fast — I met Minister @PiyushGoyal to review our progress
so far and explore the opportunities ahead for both our countries in
energy, agri-food, tech, and education.”
More than 100 senior business representatives from India's mining,
energy, automotive and aerospace sectors accompanied Goyal, a team New
Delhi says is its largest-ever business delegation to Canada.
“This is a partnership that is being reset very, very rapidly,” Goyal
said Monday.
He said Carney’s visit in late February — the first visit by a Canadian
prime minister in eight years — “completely changed the way Canada and
India looked at each other.”
“It has set in motion the pathway to a complete overhaul of this
relationship, setting new agendas, new goals,” he said.
Canada and India have been in trade talks since 2010. Talks were shut
down by Ottawa in 2023 after Canadian authorities alleged that India was
involved in the killing of Canadian Sikh activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar
near Vancouver in June that year.
New Delhi vehemently denied the allegations and accused former Canadian
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government of harboring Sikh extremists
of the Khalistan movement. The movement, which aims to create an
independent Sikh homeland, is banned in India.
Ahead of his meeting with Sidhu, Goyal said both countries are keen to
reach a free trade agreement this year.
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India's Minister of Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal makes remarks
with Canada's Minister of International Trade Maninder Sidhu, not
shown, before a bilateral meeting in Ottawa, on Monday, May 25,
2026. (Justin Tang /The Canadian Press via AP)
 In India, Carney met with Indian
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the two sides signed a series of
agreements — including a deal worth 2.6 billion Canadian dollars
($1.9 billion) to supply about 22 million pounds (10 million
kilograms) of uranium to India for nuclear energy generation.
A Canadian delegation was in New Delhi for trade talks earlier this
month and another Indian delegation is planning to return to Canada
to continue discussions later this year.
Goyal also said the two countries are working to triple their trade
to $50 billion USD by 2030.
In Ottawa, Goyal met with Carney and Foreign Affairs Minister Anita
Anand. He is also to meet with CEOs of leading companies, startups
and pension funds.
Vina Nadjibulla, vice president of research and strategy at the Asia
Pacific Foundation of Canada, said both countries are looking to
diversify their relationships and reduce their dependence on the
United States, increasingly seen as unreliable by some partners.
India recently signed trade deals with the European Union, the
United Kingdom and New Zealand.
“India is now pivoting to Europe as well as to other Western
economies like Australia and Canada to be able to meet its needs for
capital, technology and innovation,” said Nadjibulla.
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