India, Australia, and Canada announce trilateral technology and innovation partnership

The partnership will boost cooperation in key areas including emerging technologies, clean energy and building resilient supply chains, Modi said after the meeting.

“We are delighted to announce an Australia-Canada-India Technology and Innovation (ACITI) Partnership today. The initiative will deepen collaboration between democratic partners across three continents and three oceans in emerging technologies, support diversification of supply chains, clean energy and mass adoption of AI,” Modi wrote on X.

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In a joint statement released on Saturday, the three countries agreed to strengthen their ambition in cooperation on critical and emerging technologies, to complement existing bilateral initiatives. “The initiative will draw on the natural strengths of the three countries and have an emphasis on green energy innovation and building resilient supply chains, including in critical minerals. It will deepen their respective ambition and strategic collaboration towards net zero and drive further diversification of supply chains towards a secure, sustainable, and resilient future,” the statement said.

The three sides also agreed that officials should convene in the first quarter of 2026 to take the initiative forward. The Canadian PMO’s statement added that the initiative will “examine the development and mass adoption of AI to improve the lives of our citizens.”

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The ambitious partnership is yet another sign of the revival of relations between India and Canada after Carney assumed charge as PM this year. He is also expected to hold a bilateral with Modi on Sunday, focusing on the steps taken towards the reset in ties since they met on the margins of the G7 leaders’ summit in Kananaskis in June. Earlier this month, after bilateral talks with external affairs minister S Jaishankar during the G7 foreign ministers meeting in the Niagara region, Canada’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Anita Anand described India as an “important partner.”

Modi held a bilateral meeting with Albanese on Friday when the two leaders committed to strengthen the global fight against terrorism and discussed ways to deepen bilateral cooperation across a range of areas including defence and security, trade and energy.

Modi also met his British counterpart Keir Starmer on the sidelines of the Summit on Saturday. “It was wonderful meeting Prime Minister Keir Starmer in Johannesburg. This year has brought new energy to the India–UK partnership and we will keep driving it forward across many domains,” he said.

Starmer paid an official visit to India in October, his first. It followed Modi’s visit to the UK in July 2025 when both sides signed the historic India-UK Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) and adopted the India-UK Vision 2035 and a Defence Industrial Roadmap. The landmark India-UK free trade agreement will boost Indian exports of textiles, leather and engineering goods and cut levies on British whisky, automobiles and medical devices, catalysing trade, investment and job creation.

The battery of world leaders Modi met on the sidelines of the Summit included French President Emmanuel Macron and South Korean President Lee Jae-myung. “Delighted to meet President Macron during the Johannesburg G20 Summit. We had an engaging exchange on different issues. India–France ties remain a force for global good,” the PM wrote on X.

The meeting came at a time when New Delhi is likely to soon approve a joint project involving French firm Safran and India’s Gas Turbine Research Establishment (GTRE), a lab under the DRDO, to develop and produce a 120-kilonewton thrust class engine to power India’s stealth fighter jet or the AMCA (advanced medium combat aircraft) programme.

With inputs from Anirudh Bhattacharyya in Toronto