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OTTAWA — Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand is off to India and China in the coming weeks, where she plans to take two distinct approaches to mending frayed ties with the world’s two most populous countries.
“I do not think it is wise to group countries in one region of the world together, and certainly not those two countries,” Anand told The Canadian Press.
“Our relationship with each of these countries is separate and we are approaching them very differently.”
Anand spoke Monday after the United Nations General Assembly’s high-level week in New York, where she spent several days meeting with foreign counterparts to define Canada’s foreign policy.
Those meetings saw Anand distinguish the approach Prime Minister Mark Carney’s government is taking to foreign policy from that of his predecessor Justin Trudeau.
Anand is pursuing a foreign policy focused more on shoring up Canada’s security and economic resilience in a volatile global climate.
That approach includes restoring ties with India and China.
“In this time where countries are choosing a more protectionist path, my focus as minister is to build bridges wherever possible,” Anand said.
“In this era where we see countries standing up for their own sovereign interests, there are points of commonality. There are ways to co-operate, and there is every reason to continue to support multilateral institutions.”
Anand will visit both China and India in mid-October. She said the two stops will look quite different.
She met Monday with Indian External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar at the UN, after both countries restored their top envoys.
“The appointment of High Commissioners is welcome as we rebuild ties. (We) discussed further steps in that regard,” Jaishankar wrote in a social media post after the meeting.
Anand said while India and Canada “continue to elevate the diplomatic relationship,” it’s a gradual process that’s happening only because India is taking seriously Ottawa’s concerns about transnational repression and foreign interference.
“The step-by-step approach will at all times ensure that there is a law enforcement dialogue between Canada and India at the officials level, so that the public safety interests of Canada are never overlooked,” she said.
Canada’s national security adviser Nathalie Drouin met in New Delhi with her Indian counterpart over the past month, while high-level Indian officials also welcomed Global Affairs Canada deputy minister David Morrison, the top bureaucrat in the foreign service.
The officials discussed ways to both advance trade and ensure that concerns about security can be worked out without derailing the bilateral relationship. Both sides have described the process as one of gradually rebuilding trust.
Relations between Canada and India were on ice for months after Ottawa accused New Delhi of playing a role in the June 2023 assassination of a Sikh activist near Vancouver.
In October 2024, the relationship fractured further when the RCMP said it had strong evidence linking a campaign of violence and intimidation targeting Canadians to the “highest levels” of the Indian government.
India rejected that allegation and claimed Ottawa has allowed Sikh extremists to issue threats and commit acts of violence in both countries. New Delhi also has accused Ottawa of not doing enough to stop a repeat of the 1984 Air India bombing.
Each country expelled diplomats in a tit-for-tat exchange during the dispute.
The chill began to lift slightly in June, when Carney invited Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the G7 summit in Alberta. Both countries subsequently agreed to restore their top diplomats and start law enforcement talks.
Some Sikh diaspora groups have expressed alarm at the prospect of Ottawa sharing sensitive information with New Delhi.
As for her visit to Beijing, Anand said she expects discussions with her counterpart Wang Yi to touch on defence and security, trade and the environment. That will build on an initial talk in July, when the two discussed geopolitics and trade.
“In terms of China, of course, our relationship is also complex, but complex in a different way,” she said.
“The approach that we are taking is that we will co-operate with China where we can, but challenge them where we must.”
Carney said during the April election campaign that “the biggest security threat to Canada is China.” Since forming government, however, he has restarted a working group with China aimed at rectifying trade issues.
That outreach is happening as Beijing continues to hit Canadian canola with tariffs in reply to Ottawa’s tariffs on Chinese steel and electrical vehicles.
Since China released two Canadians in 2021 after more than 1,000 days in detention — an act of retaliation over the arrest of a Huawei executive in Vancouver at the request of the United States — Beijing has gradually lifted travel restrictions on Canadians visiting China and on Chinese groups visiting Canada.
Carney said last week that Ottawa should be “clearer about where we engage” with China, adding Canada could collaborate “deeply” with China on energy, climate change and basic manufacturing, while maintaining “guardrails” around national security matters.
His comments came a day before he met with Chinese Premier Li Qiang at the UN.
On Friday, at an Ottawa reception marking China’s national day, China’s ambassador to Canada suggested the bilateral relationship was on the right path.
“With joint efforts from both Chinese and Canadian sides, the downward trend of the bilateral relations was reversed, and the steady improvement has started,” Ambassador Wang Di said.
The ambassador pointed to Carney meeting with Premier Li Qiang and agreeing to focus on shared progress instead of differences.
“China is willing to work with Canada in the same direction, follow through upon the important consensus reached by the two leaders in their meeting, move the bilateral relations forward on the right track of improvement, and serve each other’s development needs, so as to bring real benefits to the two peoples,” he said.
Morrison told Friday’s gathering that the meeting between Carney and Qiang indicates a “pragmatic and constructive” approach to resetting the relationship.
“Things have changed in the past year, and the bilateral relationship is on a better track,” he said.
“While our governments will not always agree on every issue, we need to work … on those interests we do share, in a way that supports both of our people.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 30, 2025.
Dylan Robertson, The Canadian Press
