Thaw in India-Canada ties: New envoys likely to take charge next week

Sources in New Delhi have told The Indian Express that Patnaik is expected to travel to Ottawa soon and take up his new assignment in mid-September, while sources on the Canadian side confirm Cooter will join very soon. It is expected that the two envoys will join around the same time.

The development comes two months after Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Canadian counterpart Mark Carney agreed on the “early return of high commissioners” as part of the “constructive steps to restore stability”.

Relations between the two countries had plummeted in September 2023 after Justin Trudeau, the then Canadian Prime Minister, alleged “potential” involvement of Indian government agents in the killing of Canada-based Khalistan separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar in June 2023 — a charge that India rejected as “absurd” and “motivated”.

This tension led to the downgrading of diplomatic ties, with both sides expelling the high commissioners and other senior diplomats.

The Trudeau administration had identified India’s then high commissioner, Sanjay Kumar Verma, and other diplomats as “persons of interest” in its investigation into Nijjar’s killing. India had hit back at the “preposterous imputations” and said it was “withdrawing” its top envoy and other diplomats, citing “no faith in the current Canadian government’s commitment to ensure their security”. India has repeatedly expressed concern about Khalistani activists and anti-India activities in Canada.

The thaw took place on June 17 this year as Modi and Carney held a “positive” meeting on the sidelines of the G7 Summit in Canada’s Kananaskis, where the two sides “agreed to take calibrated and constructive steps to restore stability” in their relationship, starting with the “early return of high commissioners to each other’s capitals”. The two sides agreed to resume senior-level dialogues on trade, people-to-people contact and connectivity.

Patnaik is currently serving as India’s ambassador to Spain. With over three decades of experience in the foreign service, Patnaik has served in key roles across continents, with early postings in Geneva and Dhaka, and ambassadorial roles in Cambodia, Morocco and Spain. He served as deputy high commissioner to the UK between 2016 and 2018. In January 2022, he was posted as ambassador to Spain and Andorra.

“The appointments are an important step towards restoring necessary diplomatic services to citizens and businesses in both countries,” Canada said in a statement while announcing Cooter’s name last month.