Some India/Canada politics
I include these issues to provide better understanding of the dynamics currently between our two countries, and that influence how one sees India when travelling through it.
The first has to do with trade, the second with oil and the third with a nasty killing. There is another key issue: their relationship with Pakistan; I have addressed some of that when I described the India/Pakistan “Beating Retreat” border “ceremonies”.
Re trade: A $2.6-billion agreement to supply Canadian uranium to India’s civil nuclear industry has just been made (March 2026). A range of other memorandums have pledged cooperation in a variety of areas, particularly forthcoming comprehensive economic partnership agreement (CEPA) negotiations.
While the past numbers are underwhelming, Carney is trying to flip the switch on trade and is promising Canada will be a secure supplier of energy, critical minerals and digital technology. So things are humming between the two countries.
India has had challenges with Trump (of course few countries haven’t.) After initially giving India preferential treatment, Trump slapped a 50% tariff on Indian goods last summer, reportedly because India’s PM Narendra Modi disputed Trump’s claim that he was responsible for ending the brief military conflict between India and Pakistan last year.
Re oil: I get it. India, the world’s largest democracy, relies on imports for 90% of the energy that powers their economy. The country still relies on coal for three-quarters of its electricity generation. So energy security is a constant struggle.
In past blogs I have lamented India’s continuing purchase of energy from Russia after the latter invaded Ukraine in 2022. (They took an additional 25% tariff last August from Trump on their exports when they wouldn’t align with US oil sanctions against Russia. With Trump’s invasion of Iran on February 28, upward oil prices are affecting everyone, but crucially on India. So Trump has said India can keep buying crude oil from Russia until April 4. ) But the reality is that India needs to power their country, and they are determined to not depend on foreign permission to ensure their energy security.
Canada can be part of this. The success already of the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion proves that. As I argued in my very first blog (June 2019) supplying Canadian oil, which is responsibly produced, into global markets does not create demand. It displaces higher-emission, less transparent supply. An important aside is also that India’s refineries are capable of “cracking” heavy, sour crude, and that is what Canada’s oil sands produce.
So, to the nasty killing: Sure India doesn’t like the Sikh Canadians, who have been advocating, from Canada, for carving a homeland called Khalistan out of Indian territory. They think Canada has been too permissive of this movement. (By the way, Khalistan is a proposed independent Sikh sovereign state; it is not a currently existing country. Its proponents envision it being carved out of the Punjab region in northern India.)
And sure, as former Canadian PM Justin Trudeau said in September 2023, Canada had “credible allegations of a potential link between agents of the government of India” and the slaying (assassination) of Canadian Hardeep Singh Nijar (who India claims without evidence was a terrorist).
This issue won’t go away for a while, particularly as a criminal process is now underway in Canada where four Indian citizens, who had come to Canada on temporary visas, have been charged in the slaying and are in jail awaiting trial. Tricky for Carney to juggle, but he wanted to be PM.