Indian envoy presents credentials to Canada's Governor General

Ottawa, Sep 26 (PTI) Indian High Commissioner to Canada Dinesh Patnaik presented his credentials to Canada's Governor General Mary Simon and exchanged views on strengthening bilateral ties.

Patnaik is a 1990-batch Indian Foreign Service officer.

"High Commissioner @DineshKPatnaik presented Letter of Credence to H.E. The Right Honourable Mary Simon, the Governor General of Canada, followed by a Tete-a-tete. They exchanged views on strengthening India-Canada bilateral relations," said the Indian mission in Canada in an X post on Thursday.

Patnaik served as India's ambassador to Spain before this.

Last month, India and Canada appointed envoys to each other's capitals, signalling their efforts to repair ties that came under severe strain following the killing of a Sikh separatist in 2023.

In June, Prime Minister Narendra Modi held talks with his Canadian counterpart Mark Carney on the margins of the G7 summit at Kananaskis in Canada.

In the meeting, both leaders agreed to pursue "constructive" steps to restore stability in India-Canada ties, including the early return of envoys to each other's capitals.

Ties between India and Canada plummeted to an all-time low following a diplomatic spat over the killing of Khalistani separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar.

The India-Canada relations hit rock bottom following then Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's allegations in 2023 of a potential Indian link to the killing of Nijjar.

In October last year, India recalled its high commissioner and five other diplomats after Ottawa attempted to link them to the Nijjar case.

India also expelled an equal number of Canadian diplomats.

However, Liberal Party leader Carney's victory in the parliamentary election in April helped begin the process of resetting relations. PTI GRS GRS