Canada, India name new high commissioners, as both countries restore relations

By Canadian Press on August 28, 2025.

OTTAWA — India and Canada named their new high commissioners today 10 months after both countries expelled their top envoys.

Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand says Christopher Cooter will be Canada’s new high commissioner to India.

He will take on the role after 35 years as a diplomat, including postings in Israel and South Africa, as well as in New Delhi 25 years ago.

India’s foreign ministry says it will assign its current envoy to Spain, Dinesh Patnaik, to Ottawa “shortly.”

Relations between Canada and India have been strained since Canadian police accused New Delhi of playing a role in the June 2023 assassination of a Sikh activist near Vancouver.

The chill began to lift slightly in June when Prime Minister Mark Carney invited Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the G7 summit in Alberta and both countries agreed to restore their top diplomats.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 27, 2025.

Dylan Robertson, The Canadian Press