Canada News
Canada, India name new envoys as tensions between 2 countries thaw
By Catharine Tunney, CBC News, RCI
FILE: PM holds a bilateral meeting with the Prime Minister of Canada, Mr. Mark Joseph Carney on the sidelines of the 51st G7 Summit at Kananaskis, in Canada on June 17, 2025. (Photo by Prime Minister’s Office (GODL-India), GODL-India / Wikimedia Commons)
Christopher Cooter appointed high commissioner for Canada to India.
The federal government has appointed a new envoy to India, more than 10 months after security officials accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government of espionage and violence, setting off a tense diplomatic dispute.
On Thursday, Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand announced that veteran diplomat Christopher Cooter will become high commissioner for Canada to India.
The appointments are an important step towards restoring necessary diplomatic services to citizens and businesses in both countries,
said the announcement.
The same day, India appointed Dinesh K. Patnaik as its next high commissioner to Canada.
Patnaik is serving as ambassador to Spain, and New Delhi would only say he’s expected to take up the Canadian posting shortly.
The two countries expelled each other’s high commissioners, senior diplomats who are similar to ambassadors, last fall after the RCMP accused the Indian government of playing a role in a network of violence in Canada, including homicides and extortion.
Canada alleged Indian diplomats were collecting information about Canadians and passing it on to organized crime members to attack Canadians.
Two years ago, then-prime minister Justin Trudeau announced in the House of Commons that Canada had evidence linking Indian agents to the 2023 killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar in B.C.
Renewed ties
Prime Minister Mark Carney’s government has worked to renew ties with India, pointing to its growing economy, its role in supply chains and the sheer number of Canadians with ties to the country.
The two countries have also promised to work on reinstating visa services.
Carney came under fire when he invited Modi to Canada for the G7 meetings in June.
That same month, the Canadian Security Intelligence Service published its annual report warning that India continues to be a foreign interference concern.
Canada must remain vigilant about continued foreign interference conducted by the Government of India, not only within ethnic, religious and cultural communities but also in Canada’s political system,
the report reads.
According to his biography, Cooter served most recently as Canada’s chargé d’affaires to Israel and as Canada’s high commissioner to South Africa, Namibia, Lesotho, Mauritius and Madagascar.
He also had a posting in New Delhi from 1998 to 2000.
This article is republished from RCI.
