External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar and Canadian Foreign Minister Anita Anand held wide-ranging talks in New Delhi on Monday, emphasizing the growing partnership between the two countries and unveiling an “ambitious roadmap” for collaboration across trade, energy, and security.

Jaishankar said India views Canada as a complementary economy and an open society, grounded in diversity and pluralism — foundations, he noted, that make the bilateral relationship “close, sustainable, and long-term.”

“When we look at Canada, we see a complementary economy, another open society, diversity and pluralism,” Jaishankar said. “These form the basis for a close, sustainable, and long-term cooperative framework.”

Strengthening a Renewed Partnership

The meeting marks Anita Anand’s first visit to India since taking charge as Canada’s foreign minister in May. She also met Prime Minister Narendra Modi and is scheduled to hold discussions with Union Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal on enhancing two-way trade and investment.

“Our meeting today continues the constructive conversations we began in May,” Jaishankar said. “India-Canada relations have been steadily progressing over the last two months. We are working to restore and reinvigorate mechanisms necessary to advance our partnership.”

Anand’s India visit follows her government’s move to designate the Lawrence Bishnoi gang as a terrorist entity, just weeks after security dialogues between the two nations’ national security advisors, Ajit Doval and Nathalie Drouin.

Focus on Trade, Energy, and Technology

Jaishankar said both sides have agreed on an extensive cooperation agenda across multiple sectors.

“We have prepared an ambitious roadmap to advance our cooperation in trade, investment, agriculture, science and technology, civil nuclear collaboration, AI, critical minerals, and energy,” he said.

He added that India and Canada aim to “de-risk the international economy” by forging stronger partnerships in a volatile global environment.

Anand, echoing the sentiment, emphasized the importance of sustained engagement on both economic and security fronts.

“While we elevate our relationship in critical minerals, energy, AI, and climate, the security dialogue will continue,” she said. “Both our governments agree on the importance of these dialogues.”

A New Phase of Re-Engagement

Anand said the joint statement emerging from the visit would outline mutual priorities and reaffirm long-term commitment in the Indo-Pacific region.

“It will inform Canadians and Indians alike that we are collectively committed to advancing this relationship now and in the long term,” she said.

Jaishankar described the discussions as “constructive and forward-looking,” adding that both nations were now positioned to rebuild trust and expand cooperation.

“We seek to de-risk the international economy by forging strong partnerships of growing range and depth,” he noted.

The meeting signals a significant reset in India-Canada ties, which have seen renewed diplomatic and strategic engagement over the past two months.

Canadian economist Peter Howitt is among the three laureates awarded this year’s Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences for pioneering research on innovation-driven economic growth and the transformative process known as creative destruction.

The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences announced Monday that Howitt shares the prize with Philippe Aghion and Joel Mokyr, whose work explores how innovation replaces outdated technologies and fuels long-term development.

Recognizing the Power of Innovation

Howitt, 79, earned his economics degree from McGill University and a master’s from the University of Western Ontario before joining Brown University in Rhode Island, where he is now a professor of social sciences.

“It’s just the dream of a lifetime come true,” Howitt said, describing his early morning surprise when a Swedish journalist informed him of the win before the Nobel committee officially reached him.

Howitt’s co-laureates bring complementary perspectives: Aghion, 69, of the College de France and London School of Economics, uses mathematical modeling to explain innovation cycles; while Mokyr, 79, of Northwestern University, approaches economic growth through historical analysis.

‘Creative Destruction’ Explained

The trio’s research deepens understanding of “creative destruction,” a concept first articulated by Joseph Schumpeter in 1942 — describing how new technologies continuously replace old ones, driving both progress and disruption.

The Nobel committee said their work explains how scientific discovery, competition, and policy shape innovation over time, warning that sustained growth requires supporting the forces behind creativity and adaptation.

“Economic growth cannot be taken for granted,” said committee chair John Hassler. “We must uphold the mechanisms that underlie creative destruction so we do not fall back into stagnation.”

Howitt on Trade and Global Policy

Speaking to reporters, Howitt criticized Donald Trump’s trade policies, calling them harmful to innovation and global market efficiency.

“Starting a tariff war just reduces the size of the market for everybody,” he said. “It discourages innovation by reducing what we call the scale effect.”

He added that while reshoring manufacturing jobs might appeal politically, “it’s not good economic policy.”

Co-Winners React to the Honour

Mokyr, an economic historian, admitted he was stunned.

“I told my students I was more likely to be elected Pope — and I’m Jewish, by the way,” he joked.

Aghion said he was “overwhelmed and grateful,” noting he plans to invest his prize money into his research lab. He has long been an advocate for pro-innovation policies, advising French President Emmanuel Macron on economic reform and artificial intelligence initiatives.

About the Prize

The Bank of Sweden Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel was established in 1968 and has been awarded 57 times to 99 laureates. This year’s 11 million Swedish kronor ($1.6 million CAD) prize is split — half to Mokyr and the other half shared between Aghion and Howitt.

Though technically not one of Alfred Nobel’s original prizes, it is presented alongside the other Nobel awards each December 10, the anniversary of Nobel’s death.