Canada–India relations also referred to as Indo-Canadian relations, are the

bilateral relations Bilateralism is the conduct of political, economic, or cultural relations between two sovereign states. It is in contrast to unilateralism or multilateralism, which is activity by a single state or jointly by multiple states, respectively. Wh ...

between

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tota ...

and

India India, officially the Republic of India ( Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the ...

. According to the Canadian Government, these relations are built upon a "mutual commitment to

democracy Democracy (From grc, δημοκρατία, dēmokratía, ''dēmos'' 'people' and ''kratos'' 'rule') is a form of government in which people, the people have the authority to deliberate and decide legislation ("direct democracy"), or to choo ...

", " pluralism", and "people-to-people links." In 2009, bilateral trade between

and

was at about C$4.14 billion. Most notably, the bombing of

Air India Flight 182 Air India Flight 182 was an Air India flight operating on the Montreal–London–Delhi–Bombay route. On 23 June 1985, it was operated using Boeing 747-237B registered ''VT-EFO''. It disintegrated in mid-air en route from Montreal to London ...

by Canadian residents, killing a number of Canadian citizens, had effects on relations for about 20 years. India's

Smiling Buddha Operation Smiling BuddhaThis test has many code names. Civilian scientists called it "Operation Smiling Buddha" and the Indian Army referred to it as ''Operation Happy Krishna''. According to United States Military Intelligence, ''Operation H ...

nuclear test added strains to the relationship between the two nations, with allegations that India broke the terms of the

Colombo Plan The Colombo Plan is a regional intergovernmental organization that began operations on 1 July 1951. The organization was conceived at an international conference, The Commonwealth Conference on Foreign Affairs held in Colombo, Ceylon (now Sri L ...

. Although Jean Chrétien and

Roméo LeBlanc Roméo-Adrien LeBlanc (December 18, 1927June 24, 2009) was a Canadian journalist, politician and statesman who served as Governor General of Canada, the 25th since Canadian Confederation. LeBlanc was born and educated in New Brunswick, and also ...

both visited India in the late 1990s, relations were again halted, albeit temporarily, after the Pokhran-II tests.

and

are taking steps to become strategic partners, with Prime Minister

Stephen Harper Stephen Joseph Harper (born April 30, 1959) is a Canadian politician who served as the 22nd prime minister of Canada from 2006 to 2015. Harper is the first and only prime minister to come from the modern-day Conservative Party of Canada, ...

making a state visit in 2012 and Prime Minister

Justin Trudeau Justin Pierre James Trudeau ( , ; born December 25, 1971) is a Canadian politician who is the 23rd and current prime minister of Canada. He has served as the prime minister of Canada since 2015 and as the leader of the Liberal Party since ...

making one in 2018. Both are former British colonies and full members of the

Commonwealth of Nations The Commonwealth of Nations, simply referred to as the Commonwealth, is a political association of 56 member states, the vast majority of which are former territories of the British Empire. The chief institutions of the organisation are the ...

, with Canada being home to one of the largest Indian

diasporas A diaspora ( ) is a population that is scattered across regions which are separate from its geographic place of origin. Historically, the word was used first in reference to the dispersion of Greeks in the Hellenic world, and later Jews after ...

in the world along with being India's top overseas

study Study or studies may refer to: General * Education **Higher education * Clinical trial * Experiment * Observational study * Research * Study skills, abilities and approaches applied to learning Other * Study (art), a drawing or series of drawin ...

destination.

History

Indians migrants settled on the west coast from the late 19th century. See

Indo-Canadians Indian Canadians are Canadians who have ancestry from India. The terms ''Indo-Canadian'' or ''East Indian'' are sometimes used to avoid confusion with the Indigenous Peoples of Canada. Categorically, Indian Canadians comprise a subgroup of ...

Jawaharlal Nehru leaving the Canadian Parliament building

In the 1940s and 1960s Canada–India relations were enhanced because of the personal ties which developed between Indian Prime Minister

Jawaharlal Nehru Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru (; ; ; 14 November 1889 – 27 May 1964) was an Indian anti-colonial nationalist, secular humanist, social democrat— * * * * and author who was a central figure in India during the middle of the 20t ...

and two Canadian Prime Ministers who served during those years: Louis St. Laurent and Lester B. Pearson. At the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmonizi ...

and in the

Commonwealth A commonwealth is a traditional English term for a political community founded for the common good. Historically, it has been synonymous with " republic". The noun "commonwealth", meaning "public welfare, general good or advantage", dates from th ...

, on issues as diverse as the

Korean War {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Korean War , partof = the Cold War and the Korean conflict , image = Korean War Montage 2.png , image_size = 300px , caption = Clockwise from top: ...

armistice and the

Suez Crisis The Suez Crisis, or the Second Arab–Israeli war, also called the Tripartite Aggression ( ar, العدوان الثلاثي, Al-ʿUdwān aṯ-Ṯulāṯiyy) in the Arab world and the Sinai War in Israel,Also known as the Suez War or 1956 Wa ...

, there was a convergence of interest and commitment between India and Canada. Canada's aid programme to India began in 1951 and grew substantially under the

. Canada provided food aid, project financing and technical assistance to India. In the past five decades India has been one of the largest recipients of Canadian bilateral aid, amounting to over $3.8 billion Canadian dollars. In the 1960s, Canada supported the

Kundah hydro-electric power house The Kundah Power House is located in the Nilgiris, Tamil Nadu, India. It is the one of the biggest electricity generating schemes in Tamil Nadu. The group of peaks Devarbatta, Karaikada, Koulingabetta and Porthimund, all over 2400 Metres ASL ( ...

project through Colombo Plan. Indo-Canadian relations deteriorated in the wake of India's

nuclear test of May 1974 when the Canadian government severed bilateral nuclear cooperation with both India and Pakistan in 1976 after claims that the fissionable material used to construct India's first nuclear device had been obtained from the Canadian-supplied CIRUS nuclear research reactor. Thereafter Canada resolved to engage in nuclear cooperation only with countries which signed the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) and the

Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty The Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) is a multilateral treaty to ban nuclear weapons test explosions and any other nuclear explosions, for both civilian and military purposes, in all environments. It was adopted by the United Nation ...

(CTBT), and which instituted full-scope safeguards on their nuclear energy programmes under the supervision of the

International Atomic Energy Agency The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is an intergovernmental organization that seeks to promote the peaceful use of nuclear energy and to inhibit its use for any military purpose, including nuclear weapons. It was established in 1 ...

(IAEA). India and Pakistan are two nations that have both consistently refused to sign the NPT, and voted against UN General Assembly Resolutions which they claim violates their nation's sovereign right to choose whether or not to sign such treaties. In early February 1997, Foreign Minister I.K.Gujral re-iterated India's opposition to the treaty, saying that "India favours any step aimed at destroying nuclear weapons, but considers that the treaty in its current form is not comprehensive and bans only certain types of tests". At that time, Canada persistently refused to engage in nuclear co-operation with India and Pakistan until and unless they sign the treaty ended its nuclear collaboration with India for the time being, and severely damaged relations between the two nations. However, in 2010, the signing of the Nuclear Cooperation Agreement (NCA) between the two countries started a new era of engagement. A follow-on agreement was signed in 2015 to supply 3000 metric ton

Uranium Uranium is a chemical element with the symbol U and atomic number 92. It is a silvery-grey metal in the actinide series of the periodic table. A uranium atom has 92 protons and 92 electrons, of which 6 are valence electrons. Uranium is weakly ...

concentrate to India under five-year contract. Indira Gandhi was the second Indian prime minister to make a

joint session A joint session or joint convention is, most broadly, when two normally separate decision-making groups meet, often in a special session or other extraordinary meeting, for a specific purpose. Most often it refers to when both houses of a bicame ...

of the

Canadian Parliament The Parliament of Canada (french: Parlement du Canada) is the federal legislature of Canada, seated at Parliament Hill in Ottawa, and is composed of three parts: the King, the Senate, and the House of Commons. By constitutional convention, the ...

, on 19 June 1973.

Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru (; ; ; 14 November 1889 – 27 May 1964) was an Indian anti-colonial nationalist, secular humanist, social democrat— * * * * and author who was a central figure in India during the middle of the 20t ...

was the first on 24 October 1949. The bombing by Sikh separatists of

in 1985 resulted in Canada and India maintain a bilateral dialogue on

anti-terrorism Counterterrorism (also spelled counter-terrorism), also known as anti-terrorism, incorporates the practices, military tactics, techniques, and strategies that governments, law enforcement, business, and intelligence agencies use to combat or ...

, including an annual meeting of the Canada-India Strategic Dialogue, as well as regular meetings of the aforementioned Canada-India Working Group on Counter-Terrorism. In the 1990s, a chance to improve Indo-Canadian relations arose when India instituted major reforms of its economy. India went through a large economic liberalisation, which attracted the attention of the

Canadian government The government of Canada (french: gouvernement du Canada) is the body responsible for the federation, federal administration of Canada. A constitutional monarchy, the Crown is the Corporation sole#The Crown, corporation sole, assuming distinct ro ...

and the business community. Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chrétien paid a diplomatic mission to India in January 1996 with two cabinet ministers and 300 business figures. India's External Affairs Minister Inder Kumar Gujral paid an official visit to Canada in September 1996. Foreign Affairs Minister

Lloyd Axworthy Lloyd Norman Axworthy (born December 21, 1939) is a Canadian politician, elder statesman and academic. He served as Minister of Foreign Affairs in the Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Jean Chrétien. Following his retirement from parliament ...

reciprocated with a visit to India in January 1997 during which he inaugurated the Office of the

Canadian High Commission {{Unreferenced, date=June 2019, bot=noref (GreenC bot) Canadian High Commissions are Canadian diplomatic missions in Commonwealth states. They are the equivalent of embassies in non-Commonwealth states. * List of Canadian High Commissioners to Aus ...

Chandigarh Chandigarh () is a planned city in India. Chandigarh is bordered by the state of Punjab to the west and the south, and by the state of Haryana to the east. It constitutes the bulk of the Chandigarh Capital Region or Greater Chandigarh, which ...

, capital of

Punjab Punjab (; Punjabi: پنجاب ; ਪੰਜਾਬ ; ; also romanised as ''Panjāb'' or ''Panj-Āb'') is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising ...

and

Haryana Haryana (; ) is an Indian state located in the northern part of the country. It was carved out of the former state of East Punjab on 1 Nov 1966 on a linguistic basis. It is ranked 21st in terms of area, with less than 1.4% () of India's land ...

states. The Canada-India Working Group on Counter-

Terrorism Terrorism, in its broadest sense, is the use of criminal violence to provoke a state of terror or fear, mostly with the intention to achieve political or religious aims. The term is used in this regard primarily to refer to intentional violen ...

was also established in 1997, bringing together on an annual basis several departments and agencies of the Canadian and Indian governments. Former

Governor General Governor-general (plural ''governors-general''), or governor general (plural ''governors general''), is the title of an office-holder. In the context of governors-general and former British colonies, governors-general are appointed as viceroy ...

undertook a state visit to India in March 1998. Prime Minister

took an official visit to India in November 2009. The Canada India Foundation has been active since 2007 in fostering support for stronger bi-lateral relations between Canada and India. Indian Prime Minister

Manmohan Singh Manmohan Singh (; born 26 September 1932) is an Indian politician, economist and statesman who served as the 13th prime minister of India from 2004 to 2014. He is also the third longest-serving prime minister after Jawaharlal Nehru and Indi ...

visited Canada in June 2010 for the G20 Summit in Toronto. 2011 was dubbed the "Year of India in Canada," a joint initiative by both governments. Under this auspice, in June 2011, the Indo-Canada Chamber of Commerce co-hosted with the government of India the regional Pravasi Bhartiya Divas, a conference of the diaspora. This conference hosted over 1,000 delegates from India and Canada's governmental, business, medical, scientific, and philanthropic sectors. This event was followed up by the

International Indian Film Academy Awards The International Indian Film Academy Awards, popularly known as IIFA, is an annual awards ceremony for Bollywood. Produced by Wizcraft International Entertainment Pvt. Ltd, the winners of the awards are decided by fans, who vote online for th ...

held in Toronto in June 2011. Prime Minister

spent a week in India on a state visit in February 2018. Most commentators called it a failure or a disaster because of Canadian tolerance for the Sikh separatists operating in Canada. In December 2020, Trudeau expressed concerns about the handling of farmer protests by the Indian government. Trudeau stated that "Canada will always there to defend the right of peaceful protestors" and expressed support for "the process of dialogue." In response, the

Indian Ministry of External Affairs The Ministry of External Affairs (abbreviated as MEA; hi, विदेश मंत्रालय, Videśa Mantrālaya, translit-std=ISO) of India is the government agency responsible for implementing Indian foreign policy. The Ministry of Ex ...

stated that Prime Minister Trudeau's comments were "an unacceptable interference in our internal affairs".

Trade relationship

Canada and India enjoy a prosperous trading relationship. Since 2004, despite the

late-2000s recession The Great Recession was a period of marked general decline, i.e. a recession, observed in national economies globally that occurred from late 2007 into 2009. The scale and timing of the recession varied from country to country (see map). At t ...

, trade has increased by over 70%. In 2009, Canadian exports to India totalled C$2.1 billion, while in the same year Canadian imports from India totalled C$2.0 billion, giving Canada a C$100 million trade surplus. India celebrated the year 2012 as year of India in Canada to promote business, cultural and political relations with India. Despite the warm relationship, trade between Canada and India is less than their potential. India accounts for less than 1% of Canada's total export and total import in 2014, with bilateral trade of C$5.77 billion in 2014 (compared to more than C$56 billion bilateral trade between China and

). Nevertheless, total trade between the two countries grows steadily over the past 5 years. Canada and India are currently holding negotiations on the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) to improve the trade relations between the two countries. As of March 2015, the two countries held their 9th round of negotiations in New Delhi. Canada's Merchandise Trade with India 2015

Resident diplomatic missions

As both countries are members of the

, Canada and India exchange high commissioners rather than ambassadors. * Canada has a high commission in

New Delhi New Delhi (, , ''Naī Dillī'') is the Capital city, capital of India and a part of the NCT Delhi, National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati B ...

and consulates-general in

Bengaluru Bangalore (), officially Bengaluru (), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Karnataka. It has a population of more than and a metropolitan population of around , making it the third most populous city and fifth most ...

and

Mumbai Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the secon ...

. * India has a high commission in

Ottawa Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the core ...

and consulates-general in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most pop ...

and

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the city, up from 631,486 in 2016. Th ...

. File:Canadian High commission Delhi 1061.JPG, High Commission of Canada in New Delhi File:India, Ottawa.jpg, High Commission of India in Ottawa

Air connectivity

Air Canada Air Canada is the flag carrier and the largest airline of Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocea ...

operates non-stop flights from Toronto, Montreal, and Vancouver to Delhi, and from Toronto to Mumbai. In September 2019,

Air India Air India is the flag carrier airline of India, headquartered at New Delhi. It is owned by Talace Private Limited, a Special-Purpose Vehicle (SPV) of Tata Sons, after Air India Limited's former owner, the Government of India, completed ...

resumed its nonstop flights from Delhi to Toronto, and in October 2020 began scheduled flights from Delhi to Vancouver. Indian carrier Vistara has expressed interest in flying nonstop from Delhi to Toronto as its first North American destination, while Canadian carrier

WestJet WestJet Airlines Ltd. is a Canadian airline headquartered in Calgary, Alberta, near Calgary International Airport. It is the second-largest Canadian airline, behind Air Canada, operating an average of 777 flights and carrying more than 66,130 ...

has noted India as part of its expansion plans with the Boeing 787 Dreamliner. In May 2022, Union Aviation Minister

Jyotiraditya Scindia Jyotiraditya Madhavrao Scindia (born 1 January 1971) is an Indian politician who serves as the Minister of Civil Aviation, a position his father also held from 1991 to 1993. He also heads the Ministry of Steel. He is a Member of Parliament i ...

met with Canadian Transport Minister

Omar Alghabra Omar Alghabra ( ar, عمر الغبرا, ʿUmar al-Ḡabrā; born October 24, 1969) is a Saudi-born Syrian-Canadian politician who has served as Canada's Minister of Transport since January 2021. A member of the Liberal Party, he has represente ...

to discuss an open skies policy between the two countries. This would allow unlimited flights between Canada and India.

References

External links

Canada–India relations, Government of Canada
{{DEFAULTSORT:Canada-India relations Bilateral relations of India