Canada needs a new Indo-Pacific strategy as it seeks to deepen ties with Asia (Anand – National)

As Prime Minister Mark Carney begins his first official trip to Asia, Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand says Canada’s regional policy is outdated.

Anand says she has asked her department to update the Indo-Pacific strategy released by the Trudeau government three years ago.

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Anand told the Canada 2020 think tank this week that the strategy no longer reflects Canada’s economic ambitions in the region or the evolving relationship with China and India, which the Carney government reset.

The plan released by Ottawa three years ago called Beijing a “disruptive global power” whose values ​​do not match those of Canada, but Anand now calls China a strategic partner.

She also claims that the Carney government is showing an economic pragmatism “that has not been present in diplomacy” in recent years.

Anand also says his next region of focus will be the Gulf, just days after Carney announced plans to visit the United Arab Emirates next month.