Dinesh K Patnaik appointed India's new high commissioner to Canada

Senior IFS officer Dinesh K Patnaik has been appointed India's high commissioner to Canada as both countries move to reset relations after years of tension over the Nijjar row

Indian Foreign Service (IFS) officer Dinesh K Patnaik was on Thursday appointed India’s new high commissioner to Canada in an effort by New Delhi and Ottawa to reset ties.

 

On June 18, on the sidelines of the G7 Summit in Kananaskis, in Canada’s Alberta province, Prime Ministers Narendra Modi and Mike Carney had agreed to take “calibrated” and “constructive” steps to reset relations and restore “stability.” They decided to resume talks on an interim trade agreement after a nearly two-year pause and designate new high commissioners to each other’s capitals to “rebuild trust” and “bring momentum” to the relationship.

 

 

It was Modi’s first in-person interaction with the Canadian prime minister, who assumed office following recent general elections in that country.

 

India–Canada ties had plummeted to an all-time low after a diplomatic spat over the killing of Khalistani separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar in June 2023. Then Prime Minister Justin Trudeau had alleged a potential Indian link to the incident. In October last year, India recalled its high commissioner and five other diplomats after Canadian authorities suggested they were connected to the Nijjar case. India also expelled an equal number of Canadian diplomats.

 

Patnaik, a 1990-batch IFS officer, is currently serving as India’s ambassador to Spain. “He is expected to take up the assignment shortly,” the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said in a brief statement.