Anita Anand’s appointment as Canada FM will give boost to ties with India: Experts
Anita Anand became the first Hindu to be a Canadian federal minister in 2019 and has had stints as the minister of public services, transport minister and defence minister
Toronto/New Delhi
As external affairs minister S Jaishankar congratulated Anita Anand on her appointment as Canada’s foreign minister (FM), experts tracking the direction of bilateral relations were hopeful that her assuming the post could lead to an improvement in ties.
Anand became the first Hindu to be a Canadian federal minister in 2019 and has had stints as the minister of public services, transport minister and defence minister. She was named foreign minister in a smaller and more focused cabinet by Prime Minister Mark Carney on Tuesday.
“Congratulate @AnitaAnandMP on your appointment as Canada’s Minister of Foreign Affairs,” Jaishankar said in a social media post on Wednesday morning.
Among those who believe the signal sent out by Anand’s appointment is positive are former Indian high commissioners Ajay Bisaria and Vikas Swarup.
“I expect Anita Anand to excel as foreign minister. Her appointment should boost Canada’s diplomacy and strengthen India-Canada relations, given her strong track record of commitment to this relationship,” said Bisaria, who was the envoy to Ottawa during 2020-2022.
Swarup noted that Anand, the only Hindu in the current cabinet, had thrown in her lot with Carney and was rewarded by being given the crucial foreign affairs portfolio at a time when Canada is grappling with its relations with the US and global geo-political churn.
“Carney is not going to be beholden to pro-Khalistani elements to the extent that [his predecessor] Justin Trudeau was,” said Swarup, who was the high commissioner during 2017-2019.
Bisaria pointed out the “happy situation” wherein Anand and Jaishankar “share a connection with Tamil Nadu”.
Vina Nadjibulla, vice-president (research and strategy) at the Asia-Pacific Foundation of Canada, was cautiously optimistic about the future of ties with India, saying that there is a “political opening for a reset” and Anand’s appointment “further consolidates that opening”.
Nadjibulla stressed the direction will be decided by Carney, who has indicated he wants to repair ties with India. During the last weekend of campaigning for the federal election in late April, Carney said, “It’s an incredibly important relationship, the Canada-India relationship, on many levels. On the personal level, with Canadians having deep personal ties, economically, strategically.”
Anand made a similar remark while seeking re-election from her constituency of Oakville East, when she said at the end of March: “We will make sure we have strong ties with nations whose people have immigrated here and settled here, including my mother’s and father’s homeland of India.”
Nadjibulla described Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s congratulatory message to Carney on April 29, after the ruling Liberal Party was certain to form government, as a “good sign”. She said “one of the most important signals” will be whether Modi is invited to the outreach session of the G7 Summit to be held at a resort in Alberta in mid-June.
Swarup added, “An invite to the G7 Summit will be the surest sign of a reset of the India-Canada relationship.”
Nadjibulla also said Anand’s appointment is good news as she is a “serious and substantive person”. Bisaria agreed and said, “Anand’s balanced approach, quiet efficiency and strong work ethic make her well-suited for the role.”
Swarup cautioned that the two sides will still have to contend with the Khalistan issue because of the “electoral and economic clout” of its supporters in Canada. “Both sides will have to be careful in dealing with this issue,” he said.
The National Alliance of Indo-Canadians has expressed hope that there will be “better Canada-India relations” following Anand’s appointment. According to people familiar with developments at the time, Anand had been interested in playing a central role in strengthening ties with India while she was defence minister, and was expected to travel to New Delhi in the spring of 2023 but that trip didn’t take place. By July 2023, she was moved by Trudeau to the post of president of the Treasury Board.
Less than two months later, India-Canada ties cratered when Trudeau announced in Parliament that there were “credible allegations” of a link between Indian agents and the killing of Khalistani separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Surrey, British Columbia. India dismissed the charge as “absurd” and the relationship hit an all-time low.
