{"id":910975,"date":"2026-09-27T00:16:10","date_gmt":"2026-09-27T00:16:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/910975\/"},"modified":"2026-09-27T00:16:10","modified_gmt":"2026-09-27T00:16:10","slug":"anand-tells-un-canada-is-courting-more-partners-as-great-powers-retreat-from-economic-co-operation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/910975\/","title":{"rendered":"Anand tells UN Canada is courting more partners as \u2018great powers\u2019 retreat from economic co-operation"},"content":{"rendered":"

Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

Minister of Foreign Affairs Anita Anand speaks during the 81st session of the United Nations General Assembly at UN headquarters on Saturday.Heather Khalifa\/The Associated Press<\/p>\n

Canada is reducing its economic reliance on the United States by diversifying its ties, including renewed partnerships with China and India, under a policy of \u201cvalues-based realism,\u201d because Ottawa \u201ccan no longer afford to be overly reliant on any one partner,\u201d Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand told the United Nations<\/a> on Saturday.<\/p>\n

The Foreign Minister\u2019s speech to the UN General Assembly reflects Prime Minister Mark Carney<\/a>\u2019s government\u2019s efforts over the past 18 months to rebuild ties with Beijing and New Delhi after years of diplomatic disputes.<\/p>\n

Ms. Anand, echoing Mr. Carney\u2019s January speech at the World Economic Forum<\/a>, talked of how to thrive in a \u201cnew age of disorder\u201d where \u201cgreat powers are walking away from global economic co-operation, and dismantling economic integration.\u201d<\/p>\n

The United States under the Trump administration has grown deeply protectionist and unpredictable, imposing significant tariffs on allies and rivals alike in an effort to drive manufacturing back to U.S. territory.<\/p>\n

She did not name the U.S. when criticizing great power behaviour. Nor did she discuss the costly trade war between Ottawa and Washington that escalated recently after Mr. Carney walked away from what he called a \u201cbad offer\u201d in negotiations with U.S. President Donald Trump<\/a> that would undermine Canadian sovereignty and destroy major industries.<\/p>\n

Carney, other world leaders launch effort to spur middle power co-operation<\/a><\/p>\n

The U.S. followed this suspension of trade negotiations with more tariffs<\/a> and product bans on Canadian products.<\/p>\n

\u201cGreat powers want the rest of us to accept what we are offered,\u201d Ms. Anand told the UN.<\/p>\n

She said Canada is already succeeding in diversifying away from business on this continent, where the U.S. is this country\u2019s biggest customer. <\/p>\n

\u201cCanadian exports to markets outside North America have significantly increased,\u201d Ms. Anand told the UN in French.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are diversifying our ties, and building stronger relationships with new and old partners alike, so that our people can enjoy peace and prosperity.<\/p>\n

She spoke positively of the U.S. three times in her speech, but in terms of security. She welcomed Secretary of State Marco Rubio\u2019s convening of the Arctic Seven earlier this week \u2013 countries except Russia that have Arctic territory \u2013 and the recent agreement<\/a> among Greenland, Denmark and the U.S. on Arctic security. In French, she thanked the U.S. for supporting the gang-suppression force in Haiti. <\/p>\n

Ms. Anand said Canada \u201cwill pursue a policy of values-based realism.\u201d<\/p>\n

She signalled Canada sees itself as a convenor of middle powers in an age of rupture.<\/p>\n

In his speech to the World Economic Forum in Davos, Mr. Carney said the postwar rules-based international order has broken down. Great powers now use tariffs, financial systems and supply chains as tools of coercion, he said, and institutions such as the World Trade Organization, the UN and the COP climate process are under threat.<\/p>\n

Opinion: Carney\u2019s Davos speech diagnosed the problem. His EU speech lays out the cure<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cUnderstanding the world as it is, we will make the right choices for Canadians, while being guided by our values,\u201d Ms. Anand said.<\/p>\n

She said \u201cvalues-based realism\u201d means diversifying Canada\u2019s ties and working with \u201ctrusted partners\u201d on emerging technologies, critical minerals, defence production, and clean and conventional energy. It also means leading \u201cother middle powers to act collectively and decisively.\u201d She described the current moment as \u201ca rupture, not a transition.\u201d<\/p>\n

Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

In her speech, Ms Anand signalled Canada sees itself as a convenor of middle powers in an age of rupture.Eduardo Munoz\/Reuters<\/p>\n

The speech named China and India as partners, saying Canada is \u201cbuilding renewed partnerships with large economies like India and China.\u201d It did not mention China\u2019s human-rights record like Canadian officials under former prime minister Justin Trudeau did or allegations of foreign interference conducted by China and India that dominated Mr. Trudeau\u2019s latter years in office. <\/p>\n

Back in 2022, for instance, then-foreign minister M\u00e9lanie Joly told the UN General Assembly in her speech that a UN report on China\u2019s Xinjiang region contained \u201ccredible accounts of abuses that constitute crimes against humanity.\u201d <\/p>\n

India\u2019s PM Modi expected to visit Canada in December to sign trade deal, envoy says<\/a><\/p>\n

On Saturday, Ms. Anand noted at the UN that Canada has secured more than 20 new economic and defence partnerships in the past year. She also said this month\u2019s Canada Investment Summit<\/a> produced nearly $500-billion in new financing commitments.<\/p>\n

Ms. Anand said Canada\u2019s commitment to NATO is \u201cironclad.\u201d She said Canada allocated more than $80-billion to defence in last year\u2019s budget, now spends more than 2 per cent of GDP on defence, and is \u201cbuilding toward NATO\u2019s 5 per cent pledge by 2035.\u201d<\/p>\n

She called Iran<\/a> \u201cthe principal threat to peace and security in its region\u201d and pointed to sanctions she announced this week. She said Canada will again lead the General Assembly resolution on human rights in Iran.<\/p>\n

On the Middle East, she said: \u201cIsrael\u2019s right to exist is not up for debate. And the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination in a state of their own is also not up for debate.\u201d She said Israeli settlements in the West Bank are illegal under international law. She noted that Canada said this month it intends to restrict trade in goods from them. She said Hamas \u201cmust play no role in the governance of Palestine.\u201d<\/p>\n

She reaffirmed Canada\u2019s support for the International Criminal Court. She asked member states to back Canada\u2019s bid for a seat on the UN Human Rights Council for 2028 to 2030.<\/p>\n

Ms. Anand said Canada will favour \u201cissue-based coalitions\u201d of countries and is working with more than 30 countries in the Coalition of the Willing to support Ukraine. She said she will co-host a conference in Toronto next week with Norway and Ukraine on the return of Ukrainian children, detained civilians and prisoners of war.<\/p>\n

\u201cThough some would build higher walls and retreat from international engagement, we believe that long-term partnerships are the way to prosperity and security,\u201d Ms. Anand said. \u201cAnd though some would rather ignore the rupture that we see before our eyes, we are willing to see the world as it is.\u201d <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Open this photo in gallery: Minister of Foreign Affairs Anita Anand speaks during the 81st session of the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":910976,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[43,44,2922,714,41,39,42,40],"class_list":["post-910975","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-headlines","tag-news","tag-noastack","tag-politics","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/910975","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=910975"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/910975\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/910976"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=910975"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=910975"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=910975"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}