India and Canada Hold First Defence Dialogue in New Delhi

India and Canada held their first Defence Dialogue in New Delhi on Wednesday, Nov. 4, opening a new channel for talks on training, military exchanges and defence industry work.

The dialogue covered capacity building, military and technical exchanges, and defence industrial collaboration, India's Ministry of Defence said. The two sides also discussed regional and global issues.

Amit Telang, Joint Secretary for International Cooperation in India's Ministry of Defence, co-chaired the meeting. Scott Millar, Assistant Deputy Minister for Policy in Canada's Department of National Defence, co-chaired on the Canadian side.

A channel agreed in March

The dialogue did not appear on its own. In March, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Prime Minister Mark Carney agreed to set up a dedicated India and Canada Defence Dialogue. The Nov. 4 meeting puts that agreement into practice, with named officials on both sides and a set agenda.

In July, the two countries agreed to deepen defence cooperation. Those talks covered maritime collaboration, defence capacity building and training. The New Delhi dialogue takes up the same ground, now through a standing channel rather than one-off meetings.

Trade and defence move together

The defence track runs beside a wider reset in ties. Last month, External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar met his Canadian counterpart Anita Anand on the sidelines of the G20 Foreign Ministers' Meeting in Atlanta. The two discussed trade, critical minerals, defence and energy.

Global Affairs Canada said Anand welcomed progress toward concluding a comprehensive economic partnership agreement by the end of the year. The department said the ministers also agreed that Prime Minister Modi's visit to Canada in December will be another building block in the relationship.

Contact runs at other levels too. India's High Commissioner Dinesh K. Patnaik has met Canadian Defence Minister David McGuinty. Between the minister meetings, the envoy contact and the new dialogue, both governments now work the relationship on several tracks at once.

Why it matters

India and Canada are rebuilding ties after a period of diplomatic tension. The defence dialogue is one step in that rebuilding, and it sits next to the trade agreement track rather than apart from it. Training, technical exchanges and industry work give the two sides practical ground to share, beyond statements.

The agenda also links the two countries on regional and global issues, which the Indian ministry said both sides discussed. No deals were announced in the ministry account of the meeting. The step taken on Nov. 4 is the channel itself: a fixed place for defence talks between New Delhi and Ottawa.

What happens next

The next markers are already on the calendar in the accounts of the two governments. The trade track points to a comprehensive economic partnership agreement by the end of the year, which Anand welcomed progress toward. Modi's visit to Canada in December follows, which both sides describe as another building block.

The defence dialogue now exists to carry the work agreed in March and July: capacity building, training, military and technical exchanges, and defence industrial collaboration. How fast that work grows will show in what the channel does next.