Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney held bilateral talks on the sidelines of the G7 Summit in Evian, marking the most significant high-level engagement between the two countries since relations deteriorated following the 2023 diplomatic dispute over the killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar.
The meeting underscored the growing momentum in efforts to rebuild ties, with both leaders announcing a series of initiatives spanning trade, energy security, defence cooperation and people-to-people exchanges.
A key outcome of the talks was the decision to begin negotiations on a General Security of Information Agreement (GSOIA), a foundational framework that could pave the way for deeper defence-industrial collaboration and enhanced intelligence-sharing between the two countries. The move is being viewed as a significant indicator of renewed trust after security and law-enforcement cooperation suffered during the diplomatic fallout.
On the economic front, India and Canada reaffirmed their commitment to conclude the long-pending Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) by 2026. The leaders also reviewed cooperation in strategic sectors including liquefied natural gas (LNG), liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) and metallurgical coal, areas where Canada is positioning itself as a reliable supplier to support India’s growing energy and industrial requirements.
The discussions highlighted a steady revival of institutional engagement, including recent visits by senior officials, upcoming trade missions, and planned dialogues in defence, finance and migration. Both sides also noted progress in science and technology cooperation, consular affairs, education and skills development under the Canada-India Talent and Innovation Strategy.
In a significant Indo-Pacific development, India expressed support for Canada’s bid to become a Dialogue Partner of the Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA), reinforcing Ottawa’s engagement in the region. The two leaders also announced the launch of “Raisina Americas,” extending India’s flagship geopolitical dialogue platform to the Americas for the first time.
Further signalling the thaw in relations, Prime Minister Modi accepted an invitation from Carney to visit Canada in 2026, with both governments agreeing to finalise dates through diplomatic channels. Such a visit would represent a remarkable turnaround from the tensions that defined bilateral ties in 2023 and 2024.
The outcomes of the Evian meeting suggest that India and Canada are moving beyond confidence-building measures toward a more structured and institutionalised partnership, even as some of the issues that triggered the earlier diplomatic rupture remain absent from the public narrative.
