Ottawa — Canada’s Prime Minister Mark Carney is likely to visit India in the first week of March and sign deals on uranium, energy, minerals and artificial intelligence, Dinesh Patnaik, India’s high commissioner to Canada said in an interview.
Carney is making all-out efforts to diversify Canada’s alliances beyond the US, its top trade partner. In Davos last week, he earned a rare standing ovation for saying the old rules-based order is over and called on middle powers such as Canada to build coalitions to shape a fairer, more resilient world.
His viral speech followed an agreement with China to slash tariffs on electric vehicles and canola and open up to C$7bn in export markets as he tries to double non-US exports over the next decade.
Carney is also resetting relations with India after his predecessor Justin Trudeau accused the Indian government of involvement in the killing of a Sikh separatist leader in 2023. India has denied the claims.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi attended the Group of 7 summit at Carney’s invitation last year, and several of Carney’s ministers have travelled to India.
“I have a feeling in the first week of March is what we are looking at,” said high commissioner Patnaik on Carney’s visit during a weekend interview.
Carney’s office declined to comment. Australia’s Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said on Sunday Carney would visit Australia in March to address parliament.
Canada’s energy minister, Tim Hodgson, is visiting India this week and said the timing of Carney’s trip has not yet been set.
“There are plans for the prime minister to visit at some point this year. It will depend on the progress we make,” Hodgson said in a Sunday interview.
Formal negotiations for a comprehensive economic partnership agreement (Cepa) with India should also start in March, Patnaik said. The countries agreed to restart stalled trade talks in November.
Carney will sign smaller agreements with the Indian government on nuclear energy, oil and gas, the environment, AI and quantum computing and deals on education and culture during his visit, Patnaik said.
A 10-year C$2.8bn uranium supply deal is likely to be included, he added.
Hodgson did not confirm the deal, but said Canada is happy to sell uranium under the Canada-India nuclear co-operation agreement as long as India is prepared to abide by International Energy Agency safeguards.
“We know India is a major nuclear country and it has major plans to grow its civilian use of nuclear energy,” Hodgson said. “That would be one of the topics I expect we will discuss with my counterpart.”
Between Hodgson’s visit and Carney’s, the two countries will announce agreements around energy and mining, Patnaik said, adding that a pact on critical minerals and crude and liquefied natural gas transactions will be the most prominent ones.
“We need to focus on economies that are large and growing. India squarely falls into that category. India is a growing user of critical minerals Canada can supply,” Hodgson said.
Sense of urgency
Both countries are moving with a sense of urgency after two years of stalled talks, and a renewed impetus to move fast to make sure countries hit by US tariffs forge their own path, Patnaik said.
“We are living in a world where the natural rules-based order which gave a certainty to the world, is not functioning,” he said, referring to Carney’s speech at Davos.
“[We] should work together to have an agreement that protects us from the vagaries of the international order,” he added.
US President Donald Trump on Saturday threatened 100% tariffs on Canada if it signed a deal with China.
Carney responded that Canada respects its commitments under the US-Mexico-Canada agreement not to pursue free trade agreements with non-market economies.
Patnaik said India is also seeking new agreements.
India and the EU are expected to announce on Tuesday the conclusion of protracted negotiations for a free trade pact.
Within a year of starting formal negotiations with Canada, a Cepa pact could be signed, Patnaik said.
India’s commerce minister Piyush Goyal and finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman are also likely to visit Canada very soon, he said.
Patnaik said there is an ongoing court case in Canada involving four people accused of the murder of Sikh separatist leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar. If evidence comes out that Indians were involved, India will take action, he said.
India’s national security adviser will visit Ottawa in February as part of regular engagements between the two countries to exchange intelligence and discuss security measures.
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