Canada ready to seize opportunity, says PM Carney amid oil crisis - ‘India’s energy demand rising fastest globally'
As the global oil crisis deepens, Canadian PM Mark Carney highlights the opportunity for Canada to meet India's rapidly rising energy needs, positioning the country as a potential energy superpower. This comes as disruptions in oil supply escalate due to geopolitical tensions in West Asia.
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said on Wednesday that since India’s energy demand is increasing faster than anywhere else in the world, Canada is well-positioned to seize this opportunity as an energy superpower.
Carney shared his comments on X, along with a video clip of his recent remarks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his visit to India.
“India’s energy demand is increasing faster than anywhere else in the world. As an energy superpower, Canada is well-positioned to seize this opportunity,” Carney wrote on X.
Carney's remark comes amid an unfolding energy crisis and rising fear of commercial LPG across many Indian cities following the West Asian conflict in the aftermath of the US-Israel attack on Iran.
Union Petroleum and natural gas minister Hardeep Singh Puri on Tuesday said India’s energy imports are continuing to flow from “different sources and routes", amid the ongoing West Asia conflict that has triggered a massive energy crisis the world over.
With oil and gas prices soaring and the Strait of Hormuz – a vital artery that transports 20 per cent of the world’s petroleum and natural gas – effectively under the control of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, one-third of India’s natural gas imports have been disrupted.
Carney's recent visit to India
Carney was in India and met Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi on 2 March. The major outcome of the Modi-Carney talks was their decision to expand trade relations, a move that comes amid Canada's increasingly frosty economic ties with the Trump administration, news agency PTI reported.
The fresh move to bolster ties came as part of ongoing efforts by the two sides to reset the relations that came under severe strain following a diplomatic row over the killing of a Khalistani separatist in 2023.
PM Modi said after the bilateral meeting with Carney that the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on critical minerals will strengthen resilient supply chains. In the energy sector, we are building a next-generation partnership, which will focus on hydrocarbons as well as renewable energy, green hydrogen and energy storage," Modi said.
After Carney’s visit his office put out a statement saying that as the world’s fastest-growing major economy, India presented extraordinary opportunities.
“With a population of 1.4 billion, its energy demand is increasing faster than anywhere else in the world – equal to that of China and Southeast Asia combined. Canada is an energy and agricultural superpower, and a leader in critical minerals, artificial intelligence (AI), and advanced manufacturing – precisely the sectors India is scaling at speed,” it said.
To leverage our strengths as complementary economies, Canada and India announced a new Strategic Energy Partnership, including in LNG, LPG, uranium, solar, and hydrogen.
“As the first steps, the leaders welcomed… Intensified engagement on LPG with the aim to conclude Canada’s first long-term LPG arrangement with India,” the statement said among other things.