Mahaveer Singhvi is India’s new consul general in Toronto

SEnior diplomatist Mahaveer Singhvi has taken bill as bharat’s young consul superior general in the Canadian city of Toronto at a time when India and Canada are focused on rebuilding their relations and strengthening cooperation in areas such as trade, investment and critical minerals.Singhvi, who joined the Indian Foreign Service (IFS) in 1999, served as an additional secretary in the external affairs ministry in New Delhi before taking up his first foreign assignment. He has handled several important subjects, such as counter-terrorism and technology, while serving at the headquarters.The appointment “comes at an important moment to further strengthen and elevate the India-Canada relationship, with a focus on deepening cooperation across trade, technology, education and innovation,” the Indian consulate in Toronto said in a social media post.Singhvi looks forward to working closely with Canadian stakeholders and the Indian diaspora to “strengthen mutual trust, expand partnerships, and build a forward-looking partnership rooted in shared values and opportunities”, the post said.“After joining as the consul general of India in Toronto, I visited the Jain Society of Toronto and offered prayers at the temple, reflecting on the timeless values of Ahimsa (non-violence), peace, unity and harmony,” Singhvi said on social media.In his career of nearly 25 years, Singhvi has held key positions, including heading the divisions responsible for new, emerging and strategic technologies and counter-terrorism.Last August, India and Canada named senior diplomats Dinesh K Patnaik and Christopher Cooter as their respective high commissioners in each other’s capitals, filling positions that were vacant for almost 10 months or more as they worked towards normalising bilateral ties after a prolonged row over the killing of Khalistani separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar.The two countries firmed up agreements on critical minerals and the supply of uranium ore, and finalised the terms of reference for negotiations on a free trade deal during Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney’s visit to India last month for talks with his counterpart, Narendra Modi, aimed at expanding trade and deepening security cooperation. The two sides also reiterated plans to ramp up trade to $50 billion by 2030.Bilateral ties cratered when former Canadian PM Justin Trudeau alleged in 2023 that Indian government agents were linked to the killing of Nijjar. India had dismissed the accusation as “absurd”.