TORONTO: The foreign ministers of India and Canada held a telephonic conversation on Wednesday ahead of a potential bilateral meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Canadian counterpart Justin Trudeau this month.
That meeting is yet to be finalised but, if it does occur, will be on the margins of either the Commonwealth Heads of Government meet in Kigali in Rwanda or the G7 Summit in Germany.
The conversation with Canadian foreign minister Melanie Joly was described as “extensive” by Indian external affairs minister S Jaishankar in a tweet. It covered several significant geopolitical issues including the Indo-Pacific and the situation in Ukraine following the attack by Russia in February.
A readout from Global Affairs Canada, the country’s foreign ministry, said the ministers “affirmed the importance of a free and open Indo-Pacific region that is founded on respect for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all nations”.
It added they discussed Russia’s attack on Ukraine and “the need for the international community to come together to restore global peace and security. They also discussed the broader impacts of the conflict, including on global food security”.