Toronto: The foreign ministers of India and Canada met on the margins of the G7 Foreign Ministers’ meeting in France on Thursday and discussed developments in West Asia as well as taking the bilateral relationship forward.
This was their first meeting since Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney’s bilateral visit to India in late February-early March.
After her meeting with External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar at the French resort of Vaux-de-Cernay, Canada’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Anita Anand, said, in a post on X on Thursday, Anand said they followed up “on the partnership our Prime Ministers advanced during our visit to India earlier this year”.
She added they discussed “trade, the situation in the Middle East, and key areas where we can deepen cooperation, including critical minerals, agriculture, and education”.
In a post on X, Jaishankar said they met “to advance our bilateral agenda” and also discussed developments in West Asia.
Carney visited India earlier this year, and held a bilateral meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on March 2 in New Delhi, during which they issued a joint statement, which envisaged an ambitious agenda for the two countries going ahead.
During a press meet in the Indian capital after the bilateral, Carney said, “Our strategic partnership, and the speed at which we are working to unleash its potential in energy, talent, and AI, is the result of two confident, ambitious nations who want to build the future, together.”
Standing next to Carney at their joint press meet in Hyderabad House, Modi pointed out the two PMs have held bilateral meetings thrice within the last nine months, adding, “With each meeting, our relationship has become deeper and reached new heights.”
They confirmed negotiations towards the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement will conclude this year following a meeting of chief negotiators in New Delhi and the finalisation and signing of the Terms of Reference. Those negotiations have commenced since then.
As part of a new Strategic Energy Partnership, an agreement was signed for the company Cameco, headquartered in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, to supply nearly 22 million pounds of uranium to India for nuclear energy generation from 2027 to 2035. That deal is worth CA$ 2.6 billion was with the Department of Atomic Energy.
The two PMs “welcomed the progress made under the regular bilateral security dialogue convened at the level of the National Security Advisers and the agreement to a shared workplan to guide enhanced cooperation on national security and law enforcement priorities”.
The Canadian release added that they agreed that there has been significant progress in the security and law enforcement dialogue between their countries and that this work will continue.
Anand was among four Canadian Cabinet Ministers to accompany Carney on his first visit to India after assuming charge as PM in March 2025.