Canada's FM Anita Anand To Meet Indian Counterpart Jaishankar In October

Canada's Foreign Minister Anita Anand will visit India in October to meet India's External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, NDTV reported. The meeting announcement came amid thawing tension between Canada and India.

Jaishankar appreciated the phone call from Anand in a post on his X profile. Both discussed the prospects of India-Canada relations, he said in the post.

Jaishankar also extended his best wishes for Anand's successful tenure as a foreign minister. She assumed office of Canada's Foreign Ministry in early May when Prime Minister Mark Carney unveiled a 38-member cabinet. Upon Anand's designation, Jaishankar congratulated her back then.

In June, Prime Minister Narendra Modi met Carney on the sidelines of G7 summit, which was the first step in redefining the India and Canada relation. Following the diplomatic strain, high commissions for both countries returned to their respective capital cities, early September. This indicated a step toward normalisation.

Last week, National Security Advisor Ajit Doval met his Canadian counterpart Nathalie G. Drouin. The meeting was part of regular bilateral security dialogues between the two countries, the Ministry of External Affairs said.

Doval and Drouin discussed advancing the bilateral relationship between India and Canada in areas like counter terrorism, transnational organised crime, and intelligence exchanges. Both sides also acknowledged a clear momentum to rebuild trust and cooperation at the highest levels of political leadership.

The relation between two countries deteriorated after Canada's former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau claimed that India has a hand in killing of Hardeep Nijjar, India's National Investigation Agency-designated terrorist, NDTV reported.

India denied and termed the allegations malicious.

Anand's upcoming visit to New Delhi is first such strategic visit since 2023when the diplomatic relation soured. The dates of the visit are yet to be finalised.