Pariksha SaathiIndia and Canada hold their inaugural Defence Dialogue, virtually
The inaugural edition of the India–Canada Defence Dialogue was held virtually on 3 November 2026, the Ministry of Defence said on 4 November 2026. It was co-chaired by Dr Amit Telang, Joint Secretary (International Cooperation), Ministry of Defence, and Mr Scott Millar, Assistant Deputy Minister (Policy), Department of National Defence, Canada. The two sides exchanged views on their respective defence policies and strategic outlooks and explored avenues for enhancing bilateral defence cooperation. According to the Ministry, defence industrial cooperation emerged as an important area of engagement, alongside military-technical cooperation and defence research and development, which were identified as priority areas for further collaboration. The Dialogue reaffirmed the shared commitment at the leadership level to expand defence and strategic engagement between the two countries, as reflected in the Joint Statement issued on 2 March 2026 by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Prime Minister Mark Carney. The two sides also discussed specific deliverables to advance and strengthen the partnership in a comprehensive manner, exchanged perspectives on regional and global issues, and agreed to remain in touch to take forward the discussions and proposals for enhancing bilateral defence cooperation.
Drafted with AI assistance from the official PIB release linked above and checked against it by a second AI pass. Not line-edited by a human.
Learning context
The India-Canada Joint Leaders' Statement of 2 March 2026 was issued during Prime Minister Mark Carney's official visit to India from February 27 to March 2, 2026 - his first visit to India after taking over as Prime Minister of Canada, and the first bilateral visit to India by a Canadian Prime Minister since 2018. Commemorating 79 years of the establishment of diplomatic relations, the Leaders reaffirmed the importance of the Canada-India relationship; Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Prime Minister Carney also agreed to structure the renewed India-Canada Strategic Partnership around two foundational layers, the first being Security and Defence Cooperation. Under defence cooperation, the Leaders welcomed a new Maritime Security Partnership in areas such as Defence Material Cooperation, Supply Chain Resilience, and Training and Exercises, and both countries agreed to institutionalise an India-Canada Defence Dialogue that would exchange views on respective defence policies, regional and global security developments and strategic outlooks in order to identify opportunities for greater defence collaboration. They welcomed Canada's appointment of a Defence Attaché to India and India's concurrent accreditation of its Defence Attaché in Washington D.C. to Canada. On security, the Leaders welcomed the progress made under the regular bilateral security dialogue at the level of the National Security Advisors. India also welcomed Canada's interest in joining the Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA) as a Dialogue Partner.
Reference: PIB (Prime Minister's Office), 'India-Canada Joint Leaders' Statement', 2 March 2026
Check yourself: in their Joint Leaders' Statement of 2 March 2026, what dialogue did India and Canada agree to institutionalise, and what new partnership did the Leaders welcome under defence cooperation?
An India-Canada Defence Dialogue; a new Maritime Security Partnership (in areas such as Defence Material Cooperation, Supply Chain Resilience, and Training and Exercises).
Revision task: from this release, note the date and format of the first Dialogue, the two co-chairs and their posts, the areas named for cooperation and the date of the Joint Statement it recalls; from the note, the dates of Prime Minister Carney's visit, the years of diplomatic relations commemorated, the two defence steps agreed in the Joint Statement and the Defence Attaché arrangements.
Test yourself
Between India and which country was the inaugural edition of a bilateral Defence Dialogue held virtually on 3 November 2026?
Show the answer
Answer: Canada
The Ministry of Defence said the inaugural edition of the India–Canada Defence Dialogue was held virtually on 3 November 2026, co-chaired by Dr Amit Telang, Joint Secretary (International Cooperation), Ministry of Defence, and Mr Scott Millar, Assistant Deputy Minister (Policy), Department of National Defence, Canada. It reaffirmed the commitment reflected in the Joint Statement issued on 2 March 2026 by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Prime Minister Mark Carney.
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