India and Canada will review the entire spectrum of their bilateral ties during Foreign Minister Melanie Joly’s two-day visit to New Delhi beginning Monday. She will hold extensive discussions with her Indian counterpart S Jaishankar and the visit aims to deepen bilateral ties and foster stronger partnerships.
Incidentally, the visit comes at a time when alleged Khalistani supporters have indulged in some anti-India activities in Canada and recently vandalised a temple.
It is Joly’s first visit to India as the foreign minister and both the sides are optimistic about ties between the two countries witnessing further cementing in all the spheres.
Announcing the schedule of her visit, Canada’s foreign ministry said late Saturday the upcoming tour is positive. “Because of its strategic, economic and demographic importance in the world, India is a critical partner in Canada’s pursuit of its objectives under our Indo-Pacific strategy (IPS) and on the global stage,” it said.
Joly will be in New Delhi on February 6 and 7 and hold a bilateral meeting with Jaishankar. The official release said the objective is “to deepen bilateral ties and foster stronger partnerships”.
Joly will “build on the two countries’ shared tradition of democracy and pluralism, a common commitment to a rules-based international system and multilateralism, mutual interest in expanding our commercial relationship and strengthening our extensive and growing people-to-people connections,” it said.
“Both ministers will identify areas where Canadian and Indian interests converge and where the two countries could further collaborate on global and regional issues, especially as India holds the presidency of the G20 this year,” it stated.
“As I depart for my first official trip to India, I’m looking forward to strengthen our relationship, putting our Indo-Pacific Strategy into action,” Joly tweeted on Saturday evening.
Prior to this visit, Joly has twice met Jaishankar in person on the margins of multilateral events and they have also had two telephonic conversations.
“The wide-ranging bilateral cooperation between Canada and India spans the fields of science and technology, finance, education, defence and security,” the Canadian government said.
The release added that Joly will also engage with key stakeholders in India’s business and civil society communities regarding Canada’s “robust agenda” with India under the IPS. The Indo-Pacific region and how India and Canada can productively collaborate in this sphere will be the “key focus” of the bilateral talks, officials said.