India Flags Khalistani Extremism as Key Issue as Canada Seeks Stronger Strategic Ties
OTTAWA/NEW DELHI — As Canada recalibrates its diplomatic strategy in Asia, India is emerging as a country Ottawa hopes to develop into a long-term strategic partner, even as concerns over Khalistani extremism continue to complicate efforts to stabilize relations between the two nations.
Efforts to reset ties between India and Canada are increasingly being described as an attempt to create a “new normal” rather than simply restore past relations, according to a report published Friday. The immediate challenge remains rebuilding trust, while the broader goal is to establish a more durable and institutionalized strategic partnership.
Writing for India Narrative, former Indian diplomat Sanjay Kumar Verma said Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney’s recent visit to India should be viewed as the beginning of a new diplomatic balance rather than the conclusion of a difficult period in bilateral ties.
“Prime Minister Mark Carney’s visit to India from 27 February to 2 March 2026 was significant not merely because it reopened a relationship that had gone badly off course, but because it indicated Ottawa’s recognition that ties with New Delhi cannot remain hostage to episodic political crisis. It was Carney’s first visit to India as Prime Minister and the first bilateral visit to India by a Canadian Prime Minister since 2018. The two sides deliberately described the outcome as a ‘renewed India–Canada Strategic Partnership’,” Verma wrote. He previously served as India’s High Commissioner to Canada.
“The choice of words was important. It suggested that Canada was not merely repairing diplomatic damage following the tensions of 2023–24, but attempting to place the relationship on a wider and more durable strategic foundation. Yet, any serious analysis of this development must move beyond a narrow bilateral perspective. Canada’s diplomacy in Asia is undergoing a broader recalibration,” he added.
According to Verma, Canada’s efforts to rebuild ties with India are unfolding alongside increased engagement with Pakistan and a cautious, interest-driven relationship with China.
“The real analytical question, therefore, is not whether Canada is ‘returning’ to India, but how Ottawa now ranks and differentiates its relationships with India, Pakistan and China. On present evidence, the hierarchy appears clear. Pakistan is being engaged more actively at a functional level; China remains too large and consequential to ignore but too difficult to trust; and India is the country Canada increasingly seeks to elevate into a major strategic pillar of its Indo-Pacific and global outlook,” he wrote.
Verma said the evolving hierarchy reflects the different roles these countries play in Canada’s foreign policy. In Ottawa, India is increasingly seen as a partner in areas including trade diversification, supply-chain resilience, clean energy transition, critical minerals development, advanced technology cooperation, and stability in the Indo-Pacific region.
Despite the renewed engagement, Verma noted that a significant obstacle remains from India’s perspective.
“From an Indian perspective, however, one major obstacle still stands in the way of a durable reset in relations: the trust deficit arising from extremist politics on Canadian soil. The relationship cannot stabilise meaningfully unless anti-India Khalistani extremism operating from within Canada is treated as a serious security concern. For New Delhi, this issue goes beyond domestic political debate in Canada and touches directly upon India’s national security concerns,” he wrote. (Source: IANS)
