Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau spoke on the phone on Wednesday. This telephone chat between the two leaders puts to rest speculations of straining relationships between the two countries. The two leaders spoke about a host of issues including vaccination, geo-political issues as well as climate change and impact of the coronavirus pandemic.
"Was happy to receive a call from my friend Justin Trudeau. Assured him that India would do its best to facilitate supplies of COVID vaccines sought by Canada. We also agreed to continue collaborating on other important issues like Climate Change and the global economic recovery," tweeted PM Modi late Wednesday night.
Justin Trudeau informed PM Modi of Canada's requirements of coronavirus vaccines from India. PM Modi assured the Canadian Prime Minister that India would do its best to support their vaccination efforts, just as it had done for multiple other countries.
In his reply, PM Trudeau said that if the world managed to win against COVID-19, then it would significantly because of India's tremendous pharmaceutical capacity. He also lauded PM Modi's leadership in sharing the capacity with the world.
PM Modi and PM Trudeau spoke of the common view shared by both India and Canada on many geo-political issues and agreed to continue collaborating closely in fighting global challenges including climate change and economic impact of the pandemic.
The two leaders are also scheduled to meet each other in various international fora later this year.
PM Trudeau had earlier courted controversy over his remarks on the ongoing farmers' protest, saying, "I would be remiss if I didn't start also by recognising the news coming out of India about the protest by farmers. The situation is concerning and we're all very worried about family and friends."
The Canadian Prime Minister's comments were seen as a message for Canada's Sikh population. The Ministry of External Affairs responded by saying, "We've seen some ill-informed comments by Canadian leaders relating to farmers in India. These are unwarranted especially when pertaining to internal affairs of a democratic country. It's also best that diplomatic conversations aren't misrepresented for political purposes."
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