Canadian PM Arrives in India for Talks 02/27 06:09

   

   NEW DELHI (AP) -- Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney arrived in Mumbai on 
Friday for his first official visit to India, seeking to reset relations and 
deepen trade cooperation with New Delhi after ties deteriorated in recent years 
under his predecessor.

   During his four-day trip, Carney is set to hold talks with business leaders 
and will meet with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi on Monday.

   India's foreign ministry said in a statement Thursday that the meeting 
between the two leaders would offer an opportunity to reaffirm "the positive 
momentum and shared vision" for a forward-looking partnership. Talks between 
Modi and Carney are expected to cover cooperation in trade and investment, 
energy, critical minerals and technology, the ministry said.

   Carney will also visit Australia and Japan next week, part of his effort to 
diversify trade away from the United States. Carney has set a goal for Canada 
to double its non-U.S. exports in the next decade, saying American tariffs are 
causing a chill in investment

   Canada and India moved last year to advance a trade deal after two years of 
strained relations.

   Ties deteriorated after Canadian authorities alleged that India was involved 
in the killing of a Canadian Sikh activist near Vancouver in June 2023. New 
Delhi vehemently denied the allegations and accused former Canadian Prime 
Minister Justin Trudeau's government of harboring Sikh extremists of the 
Khalistan movement. The movement, which aims to create an independent Sikh 
homeland, is banned in India.

   Relations improved last year in June when Carney invited Modi to the G7 
summit in Alberta.

   Canada is not the only country that has accused Indian officials of plotting 
an assassination on foreign soil.

   In 2023, U.S. federal prosecutors accused an Indian government official of 
overseeing a foiled attempt to assassinate another Sikh separatist figure in 
New York. A man from India admitted earlier this month that he conspired to 
hire a hitman to assassinate the Sikh separatist leader.