New Delhi and Ottawa have announced a new roadmap to guide their relationship and step up their economic partnership

India and Canada have agreed to revive ties that came under severe strain during the tenure of former Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

On Monday, the two countries said they had "reached consensus on a new roadmap" for bilateral relations, after talks between their foreign ministers in New Delhi.

During their discussions, Indian Foreign Minister S. Jaishankar and his Canadian counterpart, Anita Anand, said they were committed to rebuilding trust and strengthening bilateral relations across multiple sectors.

"In keeping with the priorities that the prime ministers of India and Canada had set out for bringing momentum to the relationship, both sides, based on mutual respect for shared democratic values, the rule of law, and a commitment to upholding the principles of sovereignty and territorial integrity, reached consensus on a new roadmap for India-Canada relations," the countries said in a joint statement.

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney met his Indian counterpart, Narendra Modi, on the sidelines of the G7 summit in June in Canada, where they agreed to reset ties after years of tensions.

"India-Canada bilateral relations have been steadily progressing in the last two months. We are working to restore and reinvigorate the mechanisms necessary to advance our partnership," Jaishankar said.

The ministers acknowledged that, given the current global economic uncertainty and rising geopolitical tensions, a "robust and resilient bilateral relationship" between the nations was crucial.

Relations between India and Canada deteriorated after the G20 summit in India in 2023. During a meeting with then-Prime Minister Trudeau on the margins of the event in New Delhi, Modi raised concerns about the ongoing anti-India activities of extremist groups in Canada. The relationship reached a low in October 2024, whenCanada accusedIndian diplomats of being involved in the targeting of Sikh activists in Canada, resulting in a tit-for-tat expulsion of diplomats.

On Monday, New Delhi and Ottawa said they would increase the staff at their diplomatic missions.

"To this end, the ministers agreed that their high commissions and consulates will strengthen institutional capacity by progressively deploying expertise in the economic, political, defence, and technology domains to deliver on the shared ambitious agenda," the joint statement read.

(RT.com)