Canadian PM described his meeting with PM Modi as "foundational," saying it marks the beginning of efforts by India and Canada to rebuild their relationship based on trust and diplomacy.
00:00Today's Gaurav Sawant questioned Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney on the crucial bilateral with Prime Minister Modi. Listen in.
00:07Good evening, Prime Minister. My name is Gaurav Sawant. I work for India Today in Delhi.
00:12You're meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. How would you describe that?
00:16And what are concrete steps that you and the Prime Minister of India discussed to take this relationship forward that it reaches its true potential, sir?
00:25Well, I think the several things, if I may say.
00:28I would say the meeting, the fact of the meeting, let me say a few things.
00:35First, just in terms of Prime Minister Modi's attendance at the G7.
00:40Prime Minister Modi has attended every G7 since 2018.
00:44That is a reflection of the size of the Indian economy, the dynamism of the Indian economy, Indian technology, the leadership position India plays in its host of venues from G20 and beyond.
00:58So, as chair of the G7, hosting the Prime Minister in that context is entirely natural, entirely consistent.
01:08I fully expect the Prime Minister of India will be in attendance at the G7 next year, for example, in France.
01:15First thing.
01:16Secondly, in terms of the bilateral relationship, which is your question, I think the meeting today was important, but I would describe it as foundational.
01:26As a necessary first step, an exchange of views, frank, open exchange of views around law enforcement, transnational repression, as two examples.
01:36An agreement to provide the necessary foundations to begin to rebuild a relationship based on mutual respect, sovereignty, trust.
01:45And that begins with what was agreed, you asked for concrete, which is that we will move to appoint high commissioners again.
01:55And let me just finish by putting that in context, which is there are very deep ties of people and businesses between Canada and India.
02:07It's well known.
02:08It's part of your point about where the relationship could go.
02:10And they are not served at present by consular services, in effect, certainly by high commissioners.
02:17And it's necessary to have that level of service as a basis on which to build out, again, in the context of respect for sovereignty and to begin to realize the potential of the relationship.
02:32And we will, you know, we're both committed to work towards that, but there's a lot of work that will need to be done.
02:40We have had a discussion, the Prime Minister and I, about the importance of having the law enforcement to law enforcement dialogue, which is, not just dialogue, cooperation, directly.
02:53The importance of addressing transnational repression, as I noted, including when we met.
03:02And obviously there is a judicial process that's underway, and I need to be careful about further commentary.
