Last Updated:March 02, 2026, 14:44 IST

Canadian PM Mark Carney used Vivekananda’s oft-quoted words – “arise, awake, and stop not till the goal is reached” – to describe the partnership between India and his country

Canadian PM Mark Carney said his country and India are one family, as two million Canadians trace their roots to India. (Image: AP/File)

Prime Minister Mark Carney on Monday spoke about Swami Vivekananda’s visit to Canada in 1893, while on his way to the United States for the Parliament of World’s Religions in Chicago.

Carney used Vivekananda’s oft-quoted words – “arise, awake, and stop not till the goal is reached” – to describe the partnership between India and Canada.

“He spent time in Canada. Arise, awake and stop not till the goal is reached… in this partnership, we will not stop,” Carney said on the last day of his visit to India at the invitation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Having been instrumental in the thaw of frosty relations between India and Canada since he took over from predecessor Justin Trudeau early last year, he said both countries are one family. Two million Canadians trace their roots to India, he added.

“We are one family…two million Canadian trace roots to India. Tens of thousands of people travel between our countries. We are collaborating to build on those strengths,” he said.

The Canadian leader appreciated Prime Minister Modi’s domestic schemes and said this is not only a renewal of ties but a partnership between two confident countries.

Most of his comments have been focused on a partnership between India and Canada, indicating that his approach has been conciliatory so as to repair the damage caused by Trudeau in 2023. In fact, his bilateral talks with Modi focused on strengthening cooperation and partnership between the two countries.

During their discussion, they reviewed the progress achieved across diverse areas of the India-Canada Strategic Partnership. Earlier today, external affairs minister S Jaishankar called on Carney to appreciate his commitment to building a forward-looking partnership between the two sides.

This meeting builds on their earlier ones in Kananaskis in June 2025 and Johannesburg in November 2025, on the sidelines of the G7 and the G20 summits. In a post on X, Jaishankar said he was “delighted” to call on him during his visit to New Delhi.

“Delighted to call on Prime Minister Mark J Carney of Canada in New Delhi this morning. Appreciate his commitment towards charting a forward-looking partnership,” Jaishankar’s post read.

Carney arrived in India on February 27, marking his first official visit to the country. He landed in the national capital on Sunday evening (March 1) following the conclusion of a productive visit to Mumbai.

(With agency inputs)

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