Canada | Pakistan

Canadian PM Mark Carney shakes hands with Chinese President Xi Jinping at the People’s Great Hall in Beijing.—Reuters BEIJING: Canada’s Prime Minister Mark Carney and Chinese President Xi Jinping agreed on a raft of measures from trade to tourism on Friday at the first meeting between the countries’ leaders in Beijing in eight years. The Canadian premier hailed a “landmark deal” under a “new strategic partnership” with China, turning the page on years of diplomatic spats, retaliatory arrests of each other’s citizens and tariff disputes. Carney has sought to reduce his country’s reliance on the United States, its key economic partner and traditional ally, as President Donald Trump has aggressively raised tariffs on Canadian products. “Canada and China have reached a preliminary but landmark trade agreement to remove trade barriers and reduce tariffs,” Carney told a news conference after meeting with Xi. Under the deal, China — which used to be Canada’s largest market for canola seed — is expected to reduce tar...

Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) announced on Tuesday that it had partnered with rail companies in Canada and the United Kingdom (UK) in a bid to facilitate its passengers. In a press release, the national flag carrier’s spokesperson said that for the convenience of its passengers travelling to Toronto and destinations in the UK, special arrangements had been made to provide access to rail facilities. “PIA has launched an ‘air-to-rail’ partnership with renowned rail services in Canada and the UK, providing passengers with extensive travel facilities,” he said. Under the agreement, PIA passengers can now, after their air travel, reach their final destination by train on a single ticket without the hassle of booking separately, he said. “PIA passengers will now be able to book their rail tickets along with air tickets to reach their final destination via rail, saving time and effort in booking trains separately,” he added. “Passengers arriving in Toronto on PIA can connect to eight major cities in Canada t...

Canada’s transport regulator has asked Air India to investigate an incident of a pilot reporting for duty under the influence of alcohol and failing two breathalyser tests, a person familiar with the matter said. The tests were conducted by Canadian police at Vancouver International Airport, after the pilot was asked to leave the aircraft, the person said. The incident was labelled as a “serious matter” by Transport Canada in a letter to Air India, and authorities are likely to pursue enforcement action, the person added. The person requested anonymity as he was not authorised to speak to the media. Transport Canada did not respond to an emailed request for comment outside regular working hours. In a statement, Air India confirmed the flight from Vancouver to Delhi on December 23 experienced a last-minute delay due to the incident, adding that an alternate pilot was brought in to operate the flight. “The pilot has been taken off flying duties during the process of enquiry. Air India maintains a zero-tolerance...

Fourteen countries including Britain, Canada, France and others have condemned the Israeli security cabinet’s approval of 19 new settlements in the occupied West Bank, prompting strong criticism from Tel Aviv. On Sunday, Israel’s far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich announced that authorities had greenlit the settlements, saying the move was aimed at preventing the establishment of a Palestinian state. “On the ground, we are blocking the establishment of a Palestinian terror state,” said Smotrich, a vocal proponent of settlement expansion and a settler himself. Subsequently, fourteen countries, including Britain, France, Germany, Spain and Canada, issued a statement late on Wednesday urging Israel to reverse its decision. “We call on Israel to reverse this decision, as well as the expansion of settlements,” said a joint statement released by Britain, Belgium, Canada, Germany, Denmark, France, Italy, Iceland, Ireland, Japan, Malta, the Netherlands, Norway and Spain. Such unilateral actions, they said, “...

Canada and India have agreed to restart stalled talks for a new trade deal, the Indian government said on Sunday, after discussions between the two countries paused following a diplomatic spat two years ago. Prime Minister Mark Carney met with India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi for a bilateral discussion on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Johannesburg, South Africa. “The leaders agreed to begin negotiations on a high-ambition Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA), aimed at doubling bilateral trade to USD 50 billion by 2030,” the statement from India’s Prime Minister’s Office said. “PM Modi and I met at the G20 summit today, and launched negotiations for a trade deal that could more than double our trade to more than C$70 billion,” Carney said in a post on social media platform X. “India is the world’s fifth largest economy, and that means big new opportunities for Canadian workers and businesses.” Both sides reaffirmed their longstanding civil nuclear cooperation and noted the ongoing discu...

A Pakistan International Airlines flight attendant has reportedly gone missing in Canada, prompting the airline to launch an inquiry into his disappearance. ​According to PIA spokesperson Abdullah Hafeez Khan, the attendant did not report for flight PK-798 from Toronto to Lahore. “When contacted, he cited ill health as an excuse,” the spokesperson said, adding that the matter is being investigated. “In case of illegal disappearance, departmental action will be initiated against the flight attendant,” Khan said. Missing PIA crew members, particularly in Canada, have been reported in the past, too. Last year in October, a cabin crew member was reportedly gone missing while on duty. The missing crew member, based in Islamabad, had disappeared during a layover in Toronto. Similarly, a 47-year-old PIA steward was reportedly gone missing in Canada in March 2024. In February 2024, another member of the airline’s cabin crew was reported missing while on duty. The member had arrived in Toronto on PIA flight PK-782 fro...

Canada and Pakistan have agreed to facilitate the export of Canadian canola to the South Asian nation, the countries said in a joint statement issued late on Monday. Canada has been looking to open new markets for the commodity after China announced preliminary anti-dumping duties on Canadian canola imports in August, a year after Canada said it would levy a 100 per cent tariff on imports of Chinese electric vehicles. In a joint statement released late on Monday, the two countries said that Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar had held a phone call with Canadian Foreign Minister Anita Anand on October 30, “reaffirming the strong and enduring ties between Pakistan and Canada and emphasising the importance of deepening cooperation in areas of mutual interest”. “Pakistan and Canada agreed to facilitate the export of Canadian canola to Pakistan, recognising the significant potential of Pakistan’s expanding market for this Canadian commodity,” the statement said. It added that the ministers also we...

Canada’s clampdown on international students has hit applicants from India particularly hard, government data shows, as what was once a preferred destination loses its allure for Indian students. Canada lowered the number of international student permits it issues for the second year in a row in early 2025 as part of a broader effort to reduce the number of temporary migrants and address fraud related to student visas. About 74 per cent of Indian applications for permits to study at Canadian post-secondary institutions in August — the most recent month available — were rejected, compared to about 32pc in August 2023, according to immigration department data provided to Reuters. By contrast, about 40pc of study permit applications overall in each of those months were refused. About 24pc of Chinese study permits in August 2025 were rejected. The number of Indian applicants has dropped as well, from 20,900 in August 2023 — when Indians formed just over one quarter of all applicants — to 4,515 in August 2025. Ind...

Pakistan and Canada have reaffirmed their resolve to strengthen mutually beneficial economic cooperation, focusing on expanding trade and investment across diverse sectors.

US President Donald Trump slammed Canada for playing “dirty” on Friday as a row over an advertisement featuring former leader Ronald Reagan that prompted Trump to scrap trade talks showed no sign of abating. The Canadian province of Ontario said it would pull the offending anti-tariff ad on Monday so that negotiations could restart, after Trump alleged that the ad misrepresented the views of fellow Republican Reagan. But Trump showed no sign of backing down, saying Ontario should not have let it air during the first two games this weekend of baseball’s World Series. Adding extra spice to the row, the World Series features a Canadian team, the Toronto Blue Jays, facing a US team, the Los Angeles Dodgers. The Blue Jays thrashed the Dodgers 11-4 in the first game on Friday. “Canada got caught cheating on a commercial, can you believe it?” Trump told reporters before heading on a trip to Asia. “And I heard they were pulling the ad — I didn’t know they were putting it on a little bit more. They could have pulled i...

United States President Donald Trump said on Thursday all trade talks with Canada were terminated following what he called a fraudulent advertisement in which former and late president Ronald Reagan spoke negatively about tariffs. Trump imposed tariffs on Canadian steel, aluminum and autos earlier this year, prompting Ottawa to respond in kind. The two sides have been in talks for weeks on a potential deal for the steel and aluminum sectors. “Based on their egregious behavior, ALL TRADE NEGOTIATIONS WITH CANADA ARE HEREBY TERMINATED,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. Ontario Premier Doug Ford said earlier this week the ad from his province with anti-tariff messaging had caught Trump’s attention. The ad showed Reagan, a Republican, criticising tariffs on foreign goods while saying they caused job losses and trade wars. “I heard that the president heard our ad. I’m sure he wasn’t too happy,” Ford said on Tuesday. The Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation issued a statement late on Thursday saying the ad by the gove...

The High Commission of Canada in Pakistan, in collaboration with the Department of Digital Media, University of the Punjab, hosted a high-level Strategic Dialogue on Media Literacy and Digital Resilience to advance collective efforts in strengthening media freedom, digital inclusion, and information integrity in Pakistan.

India and Canada agreed on Monday on a new roadmap for their relations after talks between their foreign ministers in New Delhi, as both countries seek to mend ties strained over the killing of a Canadian Sikh separatist. The two countries, both of which are looking to diversify trade away from the United States due to tariff announcements, agreed to collaborate on areas such as critical minerals, trade and agricultural value chains, a joint statement said. “Reviving this partnership will not only create opportunities for enhanced economic cooperation but also help mitigate vulnerabilities arising from shifting global alliances,” it said. Almost two years of strained relations The statement came after Canada’s Foreign Minister Anita Anand met Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and her counterpart Subrahmanyam Jaishankar on Monday. “Both of our governments agree on the importance of elevating the relationship,” Anand said in her opening remarks at the meeting with Jaishankar. Relations between New Delhi and O...

Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) on Monday announced a 15% discount on flights to Canada, aiming to facilitate passengers following the recent resumption of services.

Britain, Australia and Canada on Sunday recognised a Palestinian state in a seismic shift in decades of Western foreign policy, triggering swift Israeli anger. Portugal was also to recognise Palestinian statehood later on Sunday, as Israel came under huge international pressure over the conflict in Gaza triggered almost two years ago by the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack. “Today, to revive the hope of peace for the Palestinians and Israelis, and a two-state solution, the United Kingdom formally recognises the State of Palestine,” UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer said in a message on X. Britain and Canada became the first G7 countries to take the step, with France and other nations expected to follow at the annual UN General Assembly, which opens Monday in New York. “Canada recognises the State of Palestine and offers our partnership in building the promise of a peaceful future for both the State of Palestine and the State of Israel,” Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney wrote on X. Meanwhile, Australia announced ...

Canada has announced the opening of applications for the Canada Graduate Research Scholarship (CGS) 2026, inviting students from Pakistan and around the world to apply.

Canada and India announced new high commissioners to each other’s countries on Thursday, in the latest sign of improving ties frayed by former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s allegation that India was linked to the killing of a Sikh separatist leader on Canadian soil. India’s previous high commissioner left Canada in October. Ottawa said he was among six diplomats who were expelled after they were linked to the murder of separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar, while India said it had withdrawn the envoy. India also said that same day that it had ordered the expulsion of six high-ranking Canadian diplomats, including the then-acting high commissioner. Trudeau’s successor, Mark Carney, and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi agreed to reinstate senior diplomats when they held their first bilateral meeting in Canada in June. Canada’s foreign ministry said in a statement on Thursday that veteran diplomat Christopher Cooter would take up the post, which had been vacant since the previous incumbent left last year. “The ap...

OTTAWA: Canada will remove many retaliatory import tariffs on U.S. goods and intensify contacts with the United States on striking a new trade and security relationship, Prime Minister Mark Carney said on Friday. Canadian tariffs on U.S. autos, steel and aluminum will remain for now, he told a press conference in Ottawa. Carney noted that […]

Canada will face a 35 per cent tariff on exports to the United States starting August 1, President Donald Trump said on Thursday in a letter to Prime Minister Mark Carney. It was the latest of more than 20 such letters issued by Trump since Monday, as he continues to pursue his trade war threats against dozens of economies. Canada and the US have been locked in trade negotiations in hopes of reaching a deal by July 21, but the latest threat appeared to have shifted that deadline. Both Canada and Mexico are trying to find ways to satisfy Trump so that the free trade deal uniting the three countries — known as the USMCA — can be put back on track. “Throughout the current trade negotiations with the United States, the Canadian government has steadfastly defended our workers and businesses. We will continue to do so as we work towards the revised deadline of August 1,“ Carney posted on the social media platform X Thursday night. The United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement replaced the previous NAFTA accord in July ...

The United States will resume trade negotiations with Canada immediately after Ottawa scrapped its digital services tax targeting U.S. technology firms, White House economic adviser Kevin Hassett said on Monday. “Absolutely,” Hassett said on Fox News Channel when asked about the talks restarting. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters that Canadian Prime Minister […]