Carney Arrives in Mumbai for Business-Focused India Visit

Prime Minister Mark Carney landed in Mumbai, India, on Feb. 27 as part of the first stop of his latest trip abroad to build stronger trade ties.

Ottawa and New Delhi have been working on putting their bilateral relationship on the rail after Carney became prime minister last year.

Carney’s visit to India will seek to deepen partnerships with India in the fields of trade, energy, and technology, according to his office.

The last visit by a Canadian prime minister to India was in 2018. The trip had been controversial for then-Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

Jaspal Atwal, who was a member of a pro-Khalistan terrorist group and convicted for trying to assassinate a Punjabi cabinet minister, had been invited to a reception attended by Trudeau and hosted by the Canada’s High Commissioner in India.

There were further issues escalating tensions between Canada and India in recent years as well.

Trudeau accused India in 2023 of being involved in the assassination of Sikh separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar in British Columbia, leading to a breakdown in relations. India has denied the allegation.

Carney’s government has been working through these issues, including via exchanges between Canada and India’s national security advisers.

Public Safety Minister Gary Anandasangaree said this week his government remains concerned about threats and violence Canada’s Sikh community faces from “transnational organized crime and … a range of other challenges they faced by foreign actors.” The minister said Ottawa continues to have “robust” conversations on security issues with New Delhi.

The visit by the Canadian prime minister to India will not include a stop in Punjab, as has been customary in previous official visits. The Punjabi and Sikh communities have been voter bases pursued by politicians in Canada in recent years.

Carney’s schedule in Mumbai on Feb. 28 includes visiting a local cultural exhibition, participating in an innovation showcase, and delivering remarks at the Canada-India Growth and Investment Forum.

“We just arrived in Mumbai to meet with business leaders — and forge partnerships that will unlock new opportunities for Canadian workers and businesses,” Carney said on social media after landing in Mumbai.

Relations between Canada and India underwent a reset when Carney invited Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the G7 Summit in Alberta last year.

Since then, there have been multiple engagements at the ministerial levels. Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand and her Indian counterpart launched a new roadmap to rebuild ties in October 2025 during her visit to New Delhi.

Anand at the time also said the two countries had agreed to return to previous diplomatic staffing levels. India had lifted the immunity of Canadian diplomats in October 2023, following Trudeau accusing New Delhi of being involved in an assassination on Canadian soil.

A month later, Anand said Canada and India had agreed to relaunch negotiations for a trade deal called the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement. The Trudeau government had put the talks on ice in the summer of 2023 before accusing India of having a hand in the killing of Nijjar.

More recently, Energy Minister Tim Hodgson visited India and the two sides issued a joint statement on expanding trade in oil and gas.

With Canada seeking to diversify its exports, and India’s appetite for hydrocarbons, the statement says this “offers a natural and symbiotic partnership grounded in scale, stability, and long-term opportunity.”

Carney will be meeting with Modi in New Delhi later during his India visit.

After visiting India, Carney will head to Australia and then Japan.