Canada's Carney to tour India next month amidst US tariffs and dispute over Sikh killing

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney will visit New Delhi in early March to work with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the framework for a comprehensive economic partnership agreement, Canadian official Victor Fedeli has said.

Carney will likely be in India on March 1-2, said Fedeli on Monday. He is the minister of economic development, job creation and trade for Canada's Ontario province.

Canada's federal government has already taken input from provinces including Ontario, paving the way for successful talks, the minister added.

Carney is making all-out efforts to diversify Canada's alliances beyond the United States, its top trade partner, after US President Donald Trump imposed tariffs on Canada.

Carney is also resetting relations with India after his predecessor as prime minister, Justin Trudeau, accused the Indian government of involvement in the killing of a Sikh separatist leader in 2023. India has denied those claims.

New Delhi has long been unhappy over Sikh separatist activity in Canada and the US. Last week, an Indian man, charged with orchestrating an unsuccessful alleged Indian government-backed plot to kill a Sikh separatist in New York City, pleaded guilty to three criminal charges.

Nikhil Gupta, 54, on Friday pleaded guilty to murder-for-hire, conspiracy to commit murder-for-hire and conspiracy to commit money laundering, which carry a maximum combined sentence of 40 years in prison, the spokesperson said.

US prosecutors accused Gupta of plotting with an Indian government official to kill Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, a US resident and dual US-Canadian citizen who advocated for a sovereign Sikh state in northern India’s Punjab.

Canada is home to the largest Sikh diaspora outside India. Making up about two percent of the Canadian population and clustered in suburban swing areas, the community has exerted growing political influence.

India says there are some groups in Canada that are still sympathetic to the cause of an independent Sikh country called Khalistan, carved out of India. A Sikh insurgency that was suppressed in India in the 1990s resulted in the killings of some 30,000 people.

In a recent report, the Canadian Security Intelligence Service said the slaying of Canadian Sikh leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar near Vancouver signalled "a significant escalation in India's repression efforts against the Khalistan movement and a clear intent to target individuals in North America."

The Australian Broadcasting Corporation has also accused Indian agents of harassing and threatening members of the Sikh diaspora in Australia, linking these cases to the assassination of Nijjar and the plot in the US targeting Pannun.

And Pakistan, India’s arch-rival, says that it has "credible evidence" of the Indian government's involvement in multiple killings in the country.

In 2024, British news outlet The Guardian reported that agents of New Delhi's spy agency RAW had been involved in up to 20 extrajudicial killings of individuals in Pakistan since 2020.

Middle powers joining forces?

Modi and Carney agreed in November on the sidelines of G20 meeting to start talks on a trade pact, aiming to double bilateral trade to $50 billion by 2030.

Fedeli said he is visiting New Delhi to participate in the AI-focused global summit and to attract Indian companies to invest in Ontario.

Trade between Ontario and India has grown 60 percent since 2018, with Indian companies like HCL, Paytm and Tata Consultancy, establishing a strong presence, Fedeli said.

As Ottawa and New Delhi prepare for the visit, Indian External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar and his Canadian counterpart Anita Anand met on Sunday on the margins of the Munich Security Conference, in Germany.

Ottawa said in a statement that both sides discussed "deepening cooperation in several areas, including energy, technology, and trade."

Both countries emphasised their commitment "to strengthening ties through the implementation of road map priorities as well as expanding and diversifying Canada‑India trade in support of economic resilience and stability.."  

Canadian PM Carney recently caused global ripples when he made a fiery January Davos speech, noting how "middle powers" might act together to avoid being victimised by American hegemony, earning a rare standing ovation and capturing global headlines.

Carney said the rules-based international order led by the US for decades was enduring a "rupture" and urged middle powers to break their reliance on US economic influence, which Washington was partly using as "coercion."

US President Trump shot back in his own Davos address, telling Carney to watch his words, as "Canada lives because of the United States" and later referring to Carney as a "governor" in a social media post.

Carney recently hailed a "new strategic partnership" with China during a visit to Beijing, touting a "preliminary but landmark trade agreement" to reduce tariffs.

Meanwhile, the EU and a 12-nation Indo-Pacific bloc are reportedly in talks, led by Canada, to discuss forming a major global economic alliance.