Former central banker and economist Mark Carney is set to be Canada’s new Prime Minister, replacing Justin Trudeau, following his landslide victory in the race for leadership of Canada’s Liberal Party as the country gears up to face US President Donald Trump’s tariff tirade.
Carney’s leadership opens the door to improvement in Canada’s ties with India, which touched a historic low during Trudeau’s tenure, as the new leader recently said on record that there were “opportunities” to rebuild relationship with India.
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The developments in Canada are being keenly watched in India, which was accused of aiding the killing of Canadian citizen Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a Khalistani separatist, which New Delhi had vehemently denied.
Diplomatic analysts believe that Canada must lower its pitch while dealing with India on the Nijjar issue if relations are to be improved and Carney, 59, a financial expert and an astute judge of the global economic climate, has to weigh his decision carefully.
“Carney has to be elected first in a new election and then only some policy change can be expected in a realistic manner. He has of course said that he will try to restore relations with India. The ball is in Canadian court,” India’s former ambassador Anil Trigunayat told businessline.
Carney’s direct attack on the US in his first speech after being elected as Trudeau’s successor indicates that he will give primacy to doing more trade with other partners to reduce his country’s dependence on America. “We will build new relationships with reliable trading partners and secure our borders. We will impose retaliatory tariffs with the maximum impact on the US, which will remain in place will the Americans show us respect,” he said.
Trump has not only imposed tariffs on Canada for its alleged involvement in drug trafficking and illegal immigration but also said he wants to make the country the 51st US state.
In a recent interview, Carney had said that there were opportunities to rebuild ties with India. “What Canada will be looking to do is to diversify our trading relationships with like-minded countries, and there are opportunities to rebuild the relationship with India,” Carney said.
Canada and India had been working on a mutually beneficial free trade agreement to boost bilateral trade and were even looking at concluding a limited trade pact for early gains. However, in 2023, Canada paused the negotiations because of the political tensions.
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After posting strong growth in FY 22 and FY 23 of over 20 per cent, India’s bilateral trade growth with Canada slowed down to 1.46 per cent in FY 24 to $8.39 billion.
Carney, who served as former governor of the Canadian Central Bank and Bank of England, has never been elected to public office and does not yet have a seat in the Parliament. He is expected to be sworn in as Canada’s PM soon and will contest in the next general elections as leader of the Liberal Party.
In January, Trudeau had announced that he would step down as PM following a sharp fall in his popularity ratings after nine years of power.
