External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar has met his Canadian counterpart Anita Anand in Atlanta and agreed that Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Canada in December will be another “building block” in ties between the two countries. Jaishankar met Anand on Friday on the sidelines of the G20 Foreign Ministers’ Meeting.
Both the leaders also assessed the “steady growth” in India-Canada cooperation. According to an official statement, “the ministers agreed that Prime Minister Modi’s visit to Canada in December will be another building block in the two countries’ ambitious relationship.”
They also “agreed” to stay in close contact ahead of the visit, it said. Earlier this month, during her visit to India, Canadian Foreign Minister Anand met Prime Minister Modi, and she said they had a productive discussion on further strengthening India-Canada ties. On October 16, the Indian High Commission in Ottawa said PM Modi will visit Canada on December 11 and 12. The date of the visit was also confirmed by Canadian PM Mark Carney. “We’ll see if we can broaden it out,” he said earlier this month. India-Canada relations hit rock bottom following then Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s allegations in 2023 of a potential Indian link to the killing of Sikh separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar.
Meanwhile, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar met US Secretary of State Marco Rubio in Atlanta and took stock of India-US bilateral cooperation.
“Appreciated @SecRubio’s hospitality in Atlanta for the @g20org FMM. Took stock of our bilateral cooperation,” Jaishankar said in a post on X on Friday. Jaishankar, who arrived in Atlanta late Thursday evening, met Rubio on the sidelines of the G20 Foreign Ministers’ Meeting in Atlanta.
US Ambassador to India Sergio Gor and India’s ambassador to the US, Vinay Kwatra, were also present during the meeting.