Canadian envoy Christopher Cooter at Idea Exchange: ‘Working together, combining resources, talent, scale, we think India and Canada can be world beaters’

Canadian envoy Christopher Cooter at Idea Exchange: 'Working together, combining resources, talent, scale, we think India and Canada can be world beaters' Canadian High Commissioner to India, Christopher Cooter, has worked on repairing the relationship which led to PM Mark Carney's visit.

Key points

• 19 min read New Delhi Sep 7, 2026 07: 20 AM IST.
• Christopher Cooter, Canadian High Commissioner to India, on a new chapter in India-Canada relations, expanding trade and navigating a changing world.
• Shubhajit Roy: US President Trump has taken a much more hardline approach with Canada, calling it the 51st state and almost berating the Canadians and the administration.
• (Express photo by Renuka Puri) Saptarshi Basak: PM Carney became an international superstar with his speech in Davos.
• On Canada's China ties vis-a-vis India 'There is always going to be an significant Canadian-Chinese relationship.

19 min read New Delhi Sep 7, 2026 07: 20 AM IST. Canadian High Commissioner Christopher Cooter. (Express photo by Renuka Puri).

Christopher Cooter, Canadian High Commissioner to India, on a new chapter in India-Canada relations, expanding trade and navigating a changing world. The conversation was moderated by Shubhajit Roy, Diplomatic Editor, The Indian Express.

Shubhajit Roy: It has been almost three years since your former Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, levelled allegations of Indian involvement in the killing of what our administration views as a pro-Khalistan separatist, Hardeep Singh Nijjar. Why did he do that? Could you offer a sense of the journey from there to now.

Regarding that turbulent period, there was a killing in Canada. There is now a judicial process around that and arrests were created. It's before the courts, and we'll see what justice decides in the end. But more broadly, between the two countries, there was an absence of trust. It really broke down at the official level. Over the last year, there has been a rebuilding of that trust. You see it in the four meetings that the two PMs have had over the last year. You see it in the relationship we now have between security authorities who met. They were in regular contact in the kind of practical things they do together now, so that they understand each other and we don't surprise each other with statements or events. We've taken a lot of steps to address the security reservations, first and foremost of Canadians, but they additionally speak to some of your security reservations. We've listed the Bishnoi gang as a terrorist entity, introduced a financial crimes commission, we have the Indian community in Canada under threat of extortion from some of these gangs, and so a lot of work has been done by our police. There is now a good accord of cooperation between the two countries in dealing with these kinds of matters. We want to build something that we've never had before with India, and our Prime Minister is committed to it. I think Prime Minister Modi is equally committed.

Yes, we all recognise that things can happen. There are individuals out there who do not want this relationship to be a success. This person promote a negative agenda between the two countries. That's what happened previously. It could happen again going forward. There could be some unexpected event. So what we've done by these institutional linkages is to try to insulate. It's not to put it to one side but to address it in a manner in which we have a productive outcome, where we can anticipate challenges and agreement with them. There is remarkable progress in the last few months in getting to a place which we've never really been in before.

Canadian High Commissioner Christopher Cooter (right) in conversation with Shubhajit Roy, Diplomatic Editor, The Indian Express (Photo by Renuka Puri) Shubhajit Roy: What is the different approach adopted by PM Carney as compared to PM Trudeau?

It is not just with respect to India. We will maintain our principles, of course, but we will be pragmatic. We will not take things off the table just since we don't agree with the way residents are doing things. We will talk to everyone. And that has worked particularly much in the favour of improving the relationship. In the uncertain world that we now live in with respect to trade relationships, our PM. This person has a solid economic background, having been the bank governor of both Canada, and of England, comes forward with a highly solid economic pitch that we need to build our ties with. We need to, in a way, almost rebuild Canada. And as we do this, India is a key player on the global scene. So there's a recognition that we need to work with India. We additionally have this highly sizeable diaspora; it's almost two million residents in Canada. One of the things I was struck by in India is that sense of relief that Canada and India had come back together again. There was an emotional piece to this, not just regarding security but a feeling that how could this happen – we're family. We are rebuilding that emotional connection at an individual as well as a collective level. We are at different places in development, different speeds, different needs in our economies, but there's an interesting relationship that just happens to work particularly, highly well right now.

On bridging trust deficit 'There was an absence of trust. It really broke down at the official level. There is remarkable progress in the last few months in getting to a place in which we've never really been before'.

Canadian High Commissioner Christopher Cooter. (Express photo by Renuka Puri) Shubhajit Roy: Against the backdrop of the energy crisis and energy insecurity, how does Canada look at this war in West Asia and how can Canada and India cooperate in energy collaboration?

In practice, the crisis, the war in the Gulf, the Ukraine war, and even Covid, they've all been highly disruptive. The lessons we are taking away are that we need to have fewer eggs in one basket, more resilience and more redundancy. Of course, we all hope these wars end as shortly as feasible. I know that you've obtained 10 million residents in the Gulf, with a lot at stake in that region. But if you look at Canada, what we offer is a reliable partner in energy, probably more than any other country in the world. We like to think of ourselves as an energy superpower. We are number four in oil reserves and production, number five in natural gas production, number five in LPG production, and number six in nuclear power. We additionally have all the critical minerals that go into the green transition: rare earths, lithium, graphite and so on. So what we offer is stability and an enormous variety of energy sources. We've obtained fossil fuels, transition fuels, and the technology to produce those transition fuels work, like batteries. It we're producing in sizeable numbers. We have a long history in nuclear power. When the PM was here, there was a sale of $2.3 billion of uranium for your reactors. But beyond nuclear, we've never sold you oil, gas, or LPG. Those are all massive now in Canada, and the infrastructure to deliver them to you has improved enormously. By 2030, we'll be able to export 50 million tonnes of natural gas through our West Coast ports. We'll have a 400 per cent growth in our ability to export LPG. We have a pipeline exporting oil from the West Coast that, with a few tweaks, will be able to export regarding a million barrels. But we just confirmed another pipeline, allowing us to export two million barrels. We produce between five and six million barrels a day. Interestingly, you import regarding that amount per day, so we will have the capacity to supply a significant amount. If you've had difficulties with supply from the Gulf, suddenly Canada appears as exciting. On nuclear, we just confirmed a new nuclear policy, looking forward to producing up to 10 more reactors in Canada. That policy is focused on working with countries abroad on building their nuclear capacity. Eighteen of your 24 existing reactors are based on CANDU reactors, the Canadian technology. So as your energy needs grow and are distributed – for example, your PM spoke regarding the full electrification of your railway system – that takes a lot of power. Could that be something that a small modular reactor would be able to power? There is lots of interest in that field.

Shubhajit Roy: The other major takeaway from PM Carney's visit in March this year was the speeding up of negotiations to conclude a trade agreement – the CEPA (Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement), by the end of the year. What are the problems and challenges? Are you confident it will be wrapped up by the end of the year?

I'm particularly confident that it will go forward. Both PMs have expressed their commitment a number of times. We like free trade agreements, good ones that work for us. We've done a number of them in the last year, giving us access to concerning one and a half billion individuals, and we expect we can even double that amount. We did one in 47 days with the UAE lately. We took, unfortunately, 12 years the last time we tried negotiating with you and didn't obtain highly far. That isn't going to happen this time. I'm confident that we're going to obtain this done shortly.

There are two things that a trade agreement should achieve. One is that it increases the ease of doing business through the removal of tariffs. But the other is that it demonstrates that both countries are open to business. We additionally have a substantial trade delegation coming in October. There are other pieces to the economic equation that we're working on hard as well. When all these start to come to fruition, you'll see our overall economic relationship in a much stronger place. The two PMs committed to double trade by 2030. That sounds ambitious, but our trade is nowhere near where it should be. Even a few sizeable agreements on energy or critical minerals could easily double or even triple. I think we should be even more ambitious and look beyond 2030. Where do we want to be for Viksit Bharat? That is probably the long-range frame that we need to think regarding. If you look at things like critical minerals and opening a mine on a mineral like tungsten, we have 20 per cent of the world's reserves, that's significant for defence, auto, and so on. We don't have a single active mine. So to obtain to the place where we have a mine, we need three to five years. So a lot of areas need some time to ripen. It fits so well with the Canadian economy, potential and our resources, human and natural. It fits so well with the way that your economy is growing that it's hard to imagine that we would not have a much bigger economic relationship. It the free trade agreement will facilitate.

On defence cooperation 'We've just agreed with the Europeans to develop 12 submarines. But what we lack is scale. While giving us access to world market', as we grow together, we're hopeful our industries can work together to protect both countries.

Shubhajit Roy: US President Trump has taken a much more hardline approach with Canada, calling it the 51st state and almost berating the Canadians and the administration. How do you view this to play out?

We are disappointed. According to And the PM, we had to walk away from the negotiations since the demands at the end were just beyond what we could possibly meet, and they went beyond normal trade negotiations. The 51st state dimension, imposition on our cultural sovereignty. Efforts to strain our ability to have free trade agreements with other countries. These were impositions that we couldn't accept. The US will always be an incredibly significant partner for us: culturally, people-to-people, economic ties. That's a geographic and political reality. We'll find our way through this. But in parallel, diversification and building Canada stronger is not plan B; it's plan A. So, we are investing heavily into our own economy and resources. So, if the Americans think that we're going to just roll over since we don't have resources, they miscalculated. We really like Americans. We look like them, talk like them, all the rest of it. But we are going to protect that sovereignty. As you know, tariffs will be imposed on the Americans dollar for dollar, but we will do what's in the best interest of Canada, the discussions have broken down.

PM Carney was in China before he came to India. His foreign policy is based on pragmatism. As with India, we additionally have a highly sizeable diaspora from China in Canada and the economic relationship with Canada is highly sizeable. It's much bigger than the one we have with India and a lot of Canadian jobs are at stake in that relationship. So, he was determined to put that back on an even keel. It we've now done. We do see India and China as different kinds of countries. You're a democracy, a federal country. We share a language. We share a legal history, so that makes it easier for us to do business in some ways. Insurance, banking, all those kinds of things are founded in similar laws. There is always going to be an significant Canadian-Chinese relationship. It will be different from the one that we have with you, different in quality and character.

Divya A: On a number of occasions the Indian side has expressed concern concerning the political space given to separatist elements in Canada. How seriously has the current dispensation taken those reservations?

It's a democracy; individuals have a right to express themselves. We may not agree with them, but we do have to maintain that respect for the right of individuals to express their views, whether we like them or not. I think if you look at the report of our intelligence agency that was tabled before Parliament a few weeks ago, you'll see a tone that's a bit different. It discussions concerning Khalistan actors. It discussions concerning the Air India bombing. It we've commemorated. We are looking at that matter seriously, and the primary driver is never going to be concerning what another country thinks regarding it. It's going to be what protects our citizens. The Air India bombing killed a great plenty of Canadian citizens, and I think that our agencies are aware of the risks.

On Canada's China ties vis-a-vis India 'There is always going to be an significant Canadian-Chinese relationship. It will be different from the one that we have with you, different in quality and character'.

Amrita Nayak Dutta: After March, when the maritime security partnership was confirmed. It additionally covered defence material cooperation, how has it progressed and what are the key things that you're looking at in that particular domain?

As we have in the joint statement that the two PMs agreed to, they foresee a defence dialogue to take place, so, in the maritime. We additionally would like to see our private sectors work together. We are ramping up rapidly on defence spending. Regarding $180 billion of that will be in procurement. I mentioned the $500 billion between now and 2035, and the rest will be on dual-use infrastructure. It's a massive rise for Canada. So what we hope is that the firms on both sides will be able to work together. We're additionally working on what we call a joint security of information agreement that allows them to have a framework for sharing sensitive information. We've obtained expertise in areas like optics, for example. We're ramping up there since with climate change the Arctic zone is becoming more accessible to other countries and we have a sizeable piece of real estate up there. So we're concerned regarding that area. We've just agreed with our European friends to develop 12 submarines for Canadian employ. But what we lack is scale. We only have 42 million individuals, and defence products can be extremely expensive. As we grow together, we are hopeful that we can find areas where this makes a lot of sense for our industries to work together to produce something that is to protect both of our countries, but potentially gives us access on the world market.

Canadian High Commissioner Christopher Cooter. (Express photo by Renuka Puri) Saptarshi Basak: PM Carney became an international superstar with his speech in Davos. Canada is the first US ally to directly resist the US. Why do we see this from Canada and Carney and not from, say, the Europeans?

As the PM remarked, the cumulative effect of a number of decisions, including something we offered at the last minute, resulted in him having to pull back on the trade negotiations. So it wasn't done in any way as performance art. It was done since it was the only decision we could take at this point. How others in the EU react to the US: everybody has their own calculation of what makes sense. At the end of the day, though, we want a great relationship with the US, whether it's in defence, economics, culture, and so on. Plenty of residents, particularly in the US, find it rather bizarre that we're in this position.

As for the Davos speech, in the world today, it's not the simpler world of 1945. The world has evolved a lot, so there are a lot of powers who want to be more active in the world. They've obtained the capacity to do it, they've secured the population, and they have a legitimate role to play. So when we talk regarding what he stated, variable geometry and so on, regardless of the US or other larger powers, there is a lot of scope for countries to work together. As he called them, the hegemon, in that Davos speech, it's not simply a reaction to. He additionally stated the old order wasn't entirely honest. We haven't yet constructed a new one. Those of us who can rely on each other when it comes to trade pacts or other deals should work together, to protect each other's sovereignty.

For now, canadian envoy Christopher Cooter at Idea Exchange: 'Working together, combining resources, talent, remains the part of the story worth watching, and further updates are likely as more details are confirmed.