INDIA AND CANADA TODAY
Connecting beyond the colonial past
Today, as Commonwealth partners, Canada and India cherish their natural friendship by virtue of their shared liberal-democratic traditions; multicultural, multi-ethnic, multilingual, and multi-religious identities; and long-nurtured pluralist outlook. Both of the parliamentary democracies have women of Indigenous origin in high office: Mary Simon, an Inuk, is Canada’s Governor General, while Droupadi Murmu, a Santal, is India’s president.
The countries’ prime ministers have maintained close co-operation with each other since India’s independence in 1947. Jawaharlal Nehru, India’s first prime minister, and Louis St. Laurent, the twelfth prime minister of Canada, addressed each other’s parliaments in Ottawa in 1949 and in New Delhi in 1954, respectively, while Nehru’s daughter and India’s third prime minister, Indira Gandhi, addressed the Canadian Parliament in 1973. This long-standing partnership continues today between prime ministers Justin Trudeau and Narendra Modi.
Since the end of the Second World War, the bilateral relationship between the two democracies has witnessed a substantial upward trajectory through multi-sectoral engagements. Canada was one of the foremost nations to support India’s nuclear power program, by supplying a CIRUS (Canada India Reactor Utility Services) research reactor in 1956 and a CANDU (Canada Deuterium Uranium) reactor in 1963. India is a high-priority trade and strategic partner for Canada, especially as a member of the G-20 and of the Indo-Pacific region. Bilateral trade reached a value of $8.38 billion in 2022, and ministers from both countries are negotiating towards a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement.
Both democracies have extensive bilateral agreements on terrorism, security, extradition, science and technology, patent rights, health, environment, agriculture, civil aviation, and tourism, along with investments in banking and insurance, mining, research and education, and goods and services. They supported each other during the COVID-19 pandemic by supplying vaccines and medical equipment.
Canada’s multiculturalism has always attracted Indian immigrants, and the Indian diaspora currently makes up one of the largest cultural communities in Canada, with more than 1.6 million people of Indian descent calling Canada home. The year 2011 was bilaterally declared the Year of India in Canada, with the aim of boosting sociocultural ties.
Eminent Canadian personalities such as Defence Minister Anita Anand, federal NDP leader Jagmeet Singh, McGill University principal and vice-chancellor Deep Saini, Saint Mary’s University associate vice-president Rohini Banerjee, Toronto Raptors superfan Nav Bhatia, and filmmaker Deepa Mehta are just some of the many people with Indian heritage augmenting Canada’s cultural diversity and strengthening Indo-Canadian friendship. Indian yoga, music, festivals, and cuisine are fast gaining popularity in Canada, while Cricket Canada provides opportunities for Indo-Canadian cricketers to compete in international matches. Consequently, in addition to their colonial connections, Canada and India today enjoy a prosperous relationship built upon trust, friendship, and mutual respect.