Canada-India Relations and Partnerships in the IndoPacific:
Reflections on The Road Ahead

Dr. C. Raja Mohan   Foreign Affairs Columnist, The Indian Express, Adviser to the Council on

Strategic and Defence Research, Delhi and a Visiting Professor at the  Institute of South Asian Studies, National University of Singapore.

Moderator: T.V. Paul, McGill University

Discussants:

Vincent Rigby (Max Bell School of Public Policy, McGill University)

Vina Nadjibulla (Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada)

India's growing importance in the Indo-Pacific makes it a critical partner for Canada, which is increasingly looking to engage more deeply in this dynamic, vibrant, and strategically vital region. As the Indo-Pacific becomes the epicenter of global economic and security priorities amid escalating great power competition, India's potential as a stabilizing force and an economic powerhouse cannot be overlooked. While Canada-India ties have encountered some diplomatic challenges along the way, a fuller understanding of the bilateral relationship and partnerships in the Indo-Pacific is essential. Topics for discussion will include the potential for deeper cooperation in defence and security, trade and investment, and technology and innovation. Dr. Mohan's extensive expertise in these areas will provide invaluable insights into the complex economic and security architecture of India and the Indo-Pacific region, as well as the partnerships that can be forged bilaterally and across the broader region, involving not just governments but also the private sector and civil society. His analysis will be particularly relevant as Canada, through its Indo-Pacific Strategy, seeks to deepen ties and expand its engagement with the region, focusing on shared values such as sustainable development, peace and prosperity for all, the rule of law, and a rules-based international order.

Dr. C. Raja Mohan is a former Director of Institute of South Asian Studies, National University of Singapore and currently a Visiting Research Professor there. Professor Mohan is currently an adviser to the Council of Strategic and Defence Research, Delhi. He has been associated with several think tanks such as the Institute of Defence Studies and Analyses, the Centre for Policy Research and the Observer Research Foundation. He was also the founding director of Carnegie India, New Delhi and set up the Asia Society Policy Institute in New Delhi. Prof Mohan’s research interests include Asian geopolitics, Indian foreign and security policies, and the global governance of new technologies. He writes a regular column for Foreign Policy the Indian Express and was earlier the Strategic Affairs Editor for The Hindu newspaper, Chennai. His new book India and the Asian Rebalance, will be published by IISS, London in the Adelphi Series at the end of 2024. Among his earlier books are Samudra Manthan: Sino-Indian Rivalry in the Indo-Pacific (2013), Modi’s World: Expanding India’s Sphere of Influence (2015), and The New Asian Geopolitics: Military Power and Regional Order (2021). 

This event will be concluded with the launch of Prof. T.V. Paul’s new book: The Unfinished Quest: India’s Search for Major Power Status from Nehru to Modi (Oxford University Press, 2024): Introduced by Christopher Neal, President, CIC Montreal. 

The CIPSS-CEPSI Speaker Series is supported by the Faculty of Arts, the Department of Political Science, and team grants from the FRQSC on "Mondialisation sous tension," "New Empirical Approaches to International Political Economy”, "Refugee protection and struggles for justice: From local to global contexts", and “Équipe de recherche sur la politique internationale des conflits civils (ÉPICC).

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