‘Look forward…’: PM Modi congratulates Canada’s Mark Carney after he leads Liberals to election victory

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday congratulated his Canadian counterpart, Mark Carney, on his election victory.

“India and Canada are bound by shared democratic values, a steadfast commitment to the rule of law, and vibrant people-to-people ties. I look forward to working with you to strengthen our partnership and unlock greater opportunities for our people,” PM Modi said on X.

Relations between India and Canada hit a new low under former prime minister Justin Trudeau after he alleged that New Delhi had been involved in the killing of Khalistani seperatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar.

On Monday, Carney signalled at the possibility of resetting Ottawa’s ties with India, describing its ties with the country as “incredibly important.”

“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,” Carney told the media just a day before the polls.

After polls closed, the Liberals were projected to win more of Parliament’s 343 seats than the Conservatives. It wasn’t immediately clear, though, if they would win an outright majority — at least 172 — or would need to rely on one of the smaller parties to pass legislation.

The Conservative Party’s leader, Pierre Poilievre, hoped to make the election a referendum on former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, whose popularity declined toward the end of his decade in power as food and housing prices rose.

In a speech conceding defeat and with his own seat in the House of Commons still in doubt, Poilievre vowed to keep fighting for Canadians and their right to an affordable home on a safe street.

“We are cognizant of the fact that we didn’t get over the finish line yet,” Poilievre told his supporters in Ottawa. “We know that change is needed, but change is hard to come by. It takes time. It takes work. And that’s why we have to learn the lessons of tonight — so that we can have an even better result the next time Canadians decide the future of the country.”

With inputs from agencies