India and Canada announced the appointment of their diplomats in each other’s capitals on Thursday (August 28, 2025). While India appointed Patnaik of senior diplomat Dinesh as its next High Commissioner in Ottawa on Thursday, Canada announced to make Christopher Koter its new High Commissioner in New Delhi.
This incident has happened at a time when India and Canada are trying to remove the tussle in bilateral relations after the murder of a Sikh separatist leader in 2023. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Canadian counterpart Mark Carney focused on improving bilateral relations in Canada’s Canaanaskeys on 17 June.
Right now India’s Ambassador Patnaik in Spain
Patnaik is a 1990 batch officer of the Indian Foreign Service. He is currently serving as India’s Ambassador to Spain. The Ministry of External Affairs said in a statement that Patnaik has been appointed as the next High Commissioner of India in Canada.
The statement said, “Patnaik is expected to take care of his new action soon.” At the same time, Canadian Foreign Minister Anita Anand has announced that Kooter will be the next High Commissioner of the country in India. The post was earlier with Cameron McKay.
Important steps to speed up bilateral cooperation
Anand said, ‘The appointment of the new High Commissioner reflects Canada’s view of moving forward to deepen diplomatic relations with India and to speed up bilateral cooperation. This appointment is an important step towards restoring services for people living in Canada. It will also strengthen bilateral relations to support Canada’s economy.
A statement issued by the Canadian government said that these appointments are an important step towards restoring diplomatic services required for citizens and businesses of both countries. Kooter has a diplomatic experience of 35 years.
Service provided as the High Commissioner of Canada in these countries
Recently Koror worked as an ambassador in charge of Canada in Israel. He has served as the High Commissioner of Canada at South Africa, Namibia, Lesotho, Mauritius and Madagascar. Kooter also served as the first secretary at the Canadian High Commission in New Delhi from 1998 to 2000.
In June, Prime Minister Modi and his Canadian counterpart Carney agreed to take constructive steps to restore stability in India-Canada relations, including early return of messengers in each other’s capitals.
India’s relations with Canada were bitter
In 2023, the then Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau accused the Indian agent of being a hand in the murder of Khalistani separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar, after which the relations between the two countries reached the lowest level.
In October last year, India withdrew its High Commissioner and five other diplomats from Canada, when Ottawa tried to connect him with the Nijjar case. India had also expelled the same number of Canadian diplomats. However, the victory of Liberal Party leader Carney in the parliamentary elections in April helped to start the process of re -establishing bilateral relations.
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