Ottawa, March 10 (IANS) Mark Carney, a leading economist and former Governor of the Bank of Canada who has been chosen by Canada's Liberal Party as Justin Trudeau's replacement, had pledged to "rebuild" the strained ties with India during his recent election campaign. The 59-year-old won the race to become the next Canadian Prime Minister by winning over 85 per cent of the vote of Liberal Party members.  He will stay in power till the scheduled General Election in October, in all probability facing Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre in the ultimate battle. India-Canada ties had nosedived last year as Trudeau made "ludicrous statements" repeatedly, further damaging the already strained ties.

However, while pitching himself as the frontrunner to replace Trudeau, Carney has given signals to mend the relationship. "What Canada will be looking to do is to diversify our trading relationships with like-minded countries, and there are opportunities to rebuild the relationship with India," said Carney during an interaction in Calgary recently. India's ties with Canada have seen sharp deterioration with India repeatedly expressing its deep concern about extremism and the culture of violence and anti-India activities in Canada and has asked Canadian authorities to take action against these activities. Trudeau had claimed that he had "credible allegations" of India's hand in the killing of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Canada last year.

India denied all the allegations, calling them "absurd" and "motivated" and accused Canada of giving space to extremist and anti-India elements in their country. Carney, who started his career in finance before joining Canada's public service, has engaged with India in his previous roles. "As Governor of the Bank of Canada during the 2008 financial crisis, he guided Canada through one of the most turbulent economic periods in modern history, protecting jobs and helping ensure that Canada came out stronger," Carney's website states. In 2013, he was recruited to lead the Bank of England, stewarding the United Kingdom’s economy through Brexit and the economic and political crises that followed. And in 2020, he began serving as the UN Special Envoy for Climate Action and Finance — helping rally the world to build stronger economies as we fight climate change.

"Mark offers the proven leadership and real plan we need to deliver change for our party and our country, and to build the strongest economy in the G7. We are a proud nation of builders — and now, it's time to build. Let’s build together," reads the leader's profile on the website. Last week, Carney presented a new economic plan to create higher paying jobs, improve affordability, and strengthen Canada's national security. "We are masters of our own economic destiny. Canada is stronger when it is united, which is why we need to create one Canadian economy instead of 13," he said suggesting that tariffs imposed by the US have renewed the urgency to address the long-standing barriers that have fragmented the Canadian economy.

/IANS