Canada, India name new envoys as tensions between 2 countries thaw

For more on this story, we've reached Veena Najibullah in Vancouver. She is the vice president of the Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada. Veena, I appreciate you taking the time. Thank you. Good afternoon. Good to be with you. So after months of tension between Canada and India, this feels like a significant move. What did you make of today's announcement? It is, in fact, a significant move, and it's a positive step towards rebuilding trust, as well as reengaging more fully with India. As you just heard from your reporter, the relations have been in a deep diplomatic freeze for about two years. So this is an important development. It builds on the momentum that was set at the G7 meeting between the two prime ministers. It continues that reset, that political reset. And I think what's also notable is that both governments have appointed very experienced diplomats. I think between the two of them, they have seven decades of experience and they'll need every bit of that to be able to navigate this complex and yet consequential relationship. And why is this, in your opinion, or is this, in your opinion, the right time for this to happen? Yes. So obviously, as I've mentioned, this has been a long road. It began with the crisis in September, in 2023, in September of 2023, and then kind of hit its lowest point in October of 2024. So we've seen the last, I would say, six months of sort of slow signs of relations recovering, warming. And of course, we saw the political reset in June. I think it's an important time because for both Canada and India, we find ourselves in a situation where we have to diversify our economic and security relationships. For the last two decades, both Canada and India have relied quite a bit on the US. And of course, that alliance now is coming with a lot of risks. So both India and Canada are finding themselves in a world that is changing and for which we need new partnerships. And of course, our economies are complementary. We have deep people to people ties. We're fellow democracies. So there's a lot that we can build on. But this isn't going to be easy because there are also some serious challenges. And there was a lot that led to the fallout between the two countries. You know, as our reporter mentioned, Olivia, allegations of espionage, foreign interference, even targeted violence, including the killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar. So how do you think Canada can address those issues? Absolutely. There are serious national security concerns that Canada has raised. You mentioned particularly foreign interference and transnational repression. I think those issues need to be dealt with. There needs to be a dedicated lane, sort of a way for us to manage those issues, to seek accountability and justice and to make sure that we deter any such foreign interference in the future or certainly transnational repression. But that needs to happen in its own law enforcement lane. It cannot overtake the entirety of the relationship. And we do need to have people on the ground. So that's I think when there are difficulties in the relationship, and there are certainly plenty of them in this particular relationship, you need seasoned diplomats on the ground to be able to make the case and pursue what's in the interest in this case of Canada, but also obviously of India with their diplomats. So is this pragmatism? Is this driven by economic factors, by the geopolitical reality of our times? Yes, of course, there is an element of pragmatism in this. But also, again, the relationship is quite important. Even if there wasn't the current situation with President Trump and tariffs and the geopolitical realignment, we have a very large Indo-Canadian community. We need to be able to facilitate people to people exchanges, business exchanges. There is a lot of complementarity in our economies. And of course, as I mentioned, the moment is also one which dictates for us to be able to diversify partnerships and be in dialogue, even with those with whom we have some difficulties. So looking ahead, what do you think needs to happen next for Canada and India to truly rebuild trust and move forward? Yes, so today's announcement is a very positive sign, but we need a lot more to be able to rebuild the relationship. We need to see early signs of progress on economic relationship in particular. So trade technology, seeing some progress toward restarting the free trade discussions, as well as having more visits, official visits, high level visits. And of course, this isn't just a government to government relationship. There are important private sector business interests. So seeing more CEO exchanges would also be important. But in terms of the next immediate step, what I'll be watching is, of course, what happens on the margins of the UN General Assembly in a few weeks, whether there is another face to face meeting between our minister and Indian ministers and what comes out of those in terms of specific commitments. Kind of what are the concrete things that we will be doing on economic and security cooperation? But also, how will we be addressing the challenges that do exist? And those are national security challenges, foreign interference. What would accountability look like so that everyone in Canada feels like this is good news? Veena, always interesting to hear your insight. Thank you. That was Veena Najibullah. She is the vice president of Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada.