In the News

Canada, India agree to advance shared priorities in meet of foreign ministers

Hindustan Times  , October 1, 2025

Featuring: Vice-President, Research & Strategy, APF Canada, Vina Nadjibulla

Excerpt: While Nadjibulla notes that there has been progress between Canada and India on law enforcement and security tracks, there is still room to make "tangible progress on the economic and commercial track."

“These are all steps that we were hoping would be taken as part of the reset and they are materializing. Obviously, there’s still a lot of work to be done on rebuilding and mutual trust." She adds that Trump's tariffs offer “an opportunity to build something better that is more beneficial to both countries and that also meet the requirements for economic diversification requirements for reliable partners in the current geopolitical moment.”

Carney calls Indonesia trade deal ‘game changing,’ but labour says it is a ‘step backwards’

The Hill Times , October 1, 2025

Featuring: Vice-President, Research & Strategy, APF Canada, Vina Nadjibulla

Excerpt: “It’s important to show that we’re keeping the momentum and moving forward on the deals that we are making and ratifying them as quickly as possible,” Nadjibulla said on the new Canada-Indonesia trade deal, noting that it is a “significant boost” to Canada’s diversification agenda. 

“While we’ve always talked about diversification, now there is a real imperative to do that" she says amidst supply chain uncertainty and U.S. tariffs. "But we still need to be clear-eyed that doing business in Indonesia is not going to be easy—there are many issues still around corruption...It will still require quite a bit of work."

From Halal Foods to Nuclear Power, Potential For Long-term Ties Seen for Canada, Malaysia

Bernama (Malaysian National News Agency), September 30, 2025

Featuring: President & CEO, APF Canada, Jeff Nankivell

Excerpt: When it comes to deepening Canada's trade relations with ASEAN nations like Malaysia, Nankivell tells Bernama that there is a "huge opportunity in poultry. Canadian suppliers are willing to invest in physical plant requirements and services essential to obtaining halal certification." 

"There's a window of opportunity for both sides to establish long-term trading relationships." 

Jaishankar meets Canada’s Anita Anand on UNGA sidelines, talks about rebuilding ties

Hindustan Times , September 30, 2025

Featuring: Vice-President, Research & Strategy, APF Canada, Vina Nadjibulla

Excerpt: India's External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar officaly met Canada’s foreign affairs minister Anita Anand in their first bilateral engagement. 

Nadjibulla says of the meeting that "this showed there appeared to be 'genuine momentum' towards rebuilding trust between the two countries." Anand’s visit to India next month, Nadjibulla argues, will hopefully continue that progress on areas of diplomatic and trade cooperation."

AWANI Global: ASEAN-Canada | Forging A Resilient Trade and Strategy

Astro AWANI, September 28, 2025

Featuring: President & CEO, APF Canada, Jeff Nankivell, and Asia Regional Director, APF Canada, Barett Bingley

Excerpt: Nankivell and Bingley discuss the role of ASEAN in the Indo-Pacific region, Malaysia's leadership as ASEAN Chair for 2025, and Canada's engagement in the region. 

"We find ourselves in Canada at a crossroads where we have an urgent need to diversify our trading relationships... and we see a similar appetite coming from ASEAN...its a perfect window for us to work together." - Jeff Nankivell. 

"You have to find areas where ASEAN and Canada want to work together, whether that's digital trade, or e-commerce, or green transition regulations.... implementation of agreements and usage of agreements can be just as useful as getting them signed. So first create the structures, but then you have to make sure you use them and measure their success"  - Barrett Bingley 

Pragmatism Over Wishful Thinking: Crafting a New China Strategy

Policy Magazine, September 28, 2025

Featuring: Vice-President, Research & Strategy, APF Canada, Vina Nadjibulla

Excerpt: Nadjibulla writes for Policy Magazine on the future of Canada's engagement with China, noting that the creation of a 'New China Strategy' will come with challenges as "Beijing rarely compartmentalizes. Rather, it links issues, redraws red lines, and often conditions cooperation on acceptance of its preferred narratives on Taiwan, the South China Sea, and human rights."

A such, she argues a "full decoupling from the world’s second-largest economy is neither feasible nor desirable. However, a full embrace would be naïve, as the deepening of economic ties with Beijing carries real risks. What is needed is a disciplined middle path: a made-in-Canada China strategy grounded in several core imperatives."

"A clear, made-in-Canada China strategy," Nadjibulla argues, would seek to "protect what matters [ to Canadians], engage where our interests truly align, and be on guard against coercive conditionality and issue-linkages imposed by Beijing."

Carney looks to strengthen trade, security ties in U.K. visit

Toronto Sun, September 26, 2025

Featuring: Vice-President, Research & Strategy, APF Canada, Vina Nadjibulla

Excerpt: On the prospect of the U.K. and the EU joining the CPTPP, Nadjibulla tells the Canadian Press that these discussions are promising and show the potential leadership role for Canada in bringing "together our Indo-Pacific and Euro-Atlantic partners."

“Canada," she argues "has this unique geography, sitting in the middle of these two theatres, and we can be that bridge between democracies and allies and partners in the Indo-Pacific and in the Euro-Atlantic, both on the security and defence side (and) also on the economic side."

India’s new top envoy to be sworn in today as signs emerge of a thaw in relations

CTV News, September 24, 2025

Featuring: Vice-President, Research & Strategy, APF Canada, Vina Nadjibulla

Excerpt: “We’re getting signals from India that they are very much interested in rebuilding [their] relationship" with Canada, Nadjibulla tells CTV News. 

“It’s going to take time to rebuild mutual trust. It’s going to take time to find a way to work through the difficult national security concerns."

Global Affairs Canada deputy minister David Morrison's pre-foreign office consultation with Indian senior officials shows development in the Canada-India relationship and the rebuilding of a dialogue mechanism between the foreign ministries, which, according to Nadjibulla, "hasn’t been active since the political crisis."

ASEAN-Canada Free Trade Agreement Needed To Bolster trade -- Canadian Think Tank

Bernama (Malaysian National News Agency), September 24, 2025

Featuring: President & CEO, APF Canada, Jeff Nankivell

Excerpt: Nankivell discusses the global pressure to finalize an ASEAN-Canada Free Trade Agreement to stabilize supply chains and ensure economic diversification in the wake of U.S. tariff policies. 

"Canada has thrived by being part of an integrated North American economy. But when you rely too heavily on one partner, you expose yourself to risk, and Canada feels that risk more than ever... That's why we need to look at Southeast Asia and beyond.

"ASEAN economies have real needs that Canada is well placed to meet."

Canada Lures Oil Majors With LNG Incentives

Bernama (Malaysian National News Agency), September 23, 2025

Featuring: President & CEO, APF Canada, Jeff Nankivell

Excerpt: "Now is absolutely the time to be taking another look [at Southeast Asia LNG investments in Canada] because there are new opportunities and a new spirit in the government at the federal level in Canada, as the regulatory environment makes it much more favourable to the fast development of major projects."

Nankivell notes that the new incentives to "attract oil majors...[and] boost investments in [Canada's] liquefied natural gas sector" provide economic predictability, investment certainty, and quicker revenue streams.

U.S. President Trump bashes world leaders with U.N. General Assembly address

The Vassy Kapelos Show, September 23, 2025

Featuring: Vice-President, Research & Strategy, APF Canada, Vina Nadjibulla

Excerpt: Vina Nadjibulla discusses Canadian prime minister Mark Carney's meeting with the premier of China Li Qiang. 

"China doesn't compartmentalize, it links issues. [China] basically says 'if you want to trade with us, you also have to do the right things, or rather what they consider to be right, on the Taiwan, South China Sea, and so on."

"Selective engagement with China," Nadjibulla argues, is the right idea. But she notes that Canada and other democratic trade partners should be "realistic on what is possible" with China. That means "in the current era... we need to have diversified partnerships... we have to make sure we aren't too reliant on China for any one export." 

PCG Vancouver Attends “Canada-ASEAN Cooperation at a Turning Point” Forum organized by the Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada

Philippine Canadian Inquirer, September 19, 2025

Featuring: APF Canada

Excerpt: "Consul General Gina A. Jamoralin attended a forum organized by the Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada titled Canada-ASEAN Cooperation at a Turning Point last 15 September 2025.

"The Philippines, a founding member of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), will assume the chairmanship of the ASEAN Chairmanship in 2026. As chair, the Philippines will continue to forge catalyzing and transforming initiatives that will provide stability to the ASEAN community and promote broader and deeper engagement with its external partners such as Canada."

B.C. drawing billions as Indo-Pacific ramps up minerals trade

BIV, September 17, 2025

Featuring: Vice-President, Research & Strategy, APF Canada, Vina Nadjibulla 

Excerpt: BIV covered APF Canada's September 4th event focused on Canada's critical minerals strategy in Asia.

"In today’s world, where we have intensified geopolitical competition and supply chain disturbances, the critical minerals supply chain is emerging as an area where Canada can play an important role," noted Nadjibulla. "B.C. is kind of the mining capital of Canada—a lot of the companies are headquartered here in Vancouver.

"Critical minerals is now at the forefront of the emerging geopolitical tensions between China and the U.S... We need to have prioritization and clear, achievable targets, which may take five to 10 years to get there, but we have to start now.”

How Canada Can Meet the China Challenge in Critical Minerals

Policy Magazine, September 16, 2025

Featuring: Vice-President Research & Strategy, APF Canada, Vina Nadjibulla; Senior Fellow, APF Canada, Pascale Massot

Excerpt: Following up on APF Canada's September 4, 2025, event, Nadjibulla and Massot discuss Canada's global critical mineral strategy in an op-ed for Policy Magazine.

"Canada’s critical minerals strategy needs to move past broad ambition to systematic, prioritized, and partnership-focused action.

"We need an approach that right-sizes the China challenge, adjusts to the evolving environment south of the border, embeds within a national industrial strategy, and updates our 2022 critical minerals strategy with targeted tools and deeper partnerships across the Indo-Pacific, Europe, North America, and beyond. 

"...For Canada to matter, our strategy has to move with the times."

Carmichael: Doug Ford’s rah-rah routine masks an inconvenient truth

The Logic, September 10, 2025

Featuring: Founder and CEO of Nextrade Group, Kati Suominen, and Distinguished Fellow, APF Canada, Danielle Goldfarb

Excerpt: "It is really important to pay attention to where there are new opportunities" in Canadian service trade sectors, notes Goldfarb. The Logic points to two research papers penned by Goldfarb, including her joint report on "Canada's Under-the-Radar Trade Opportunity: Digital and AI-Enabled Trade" with Kati Suominen, to show how the service trade is being under recognized and should be re-prioritized in Doug Ford's economic strategy.

Re-engaging India a strategic move in a time of global flux

Hill Times, September 8, 2025

Featuring: Vice-President Research & Strategy, APF Canada, Vina Nadjibulla

Excerpt: In a new op-ed for the Hill Times, Nadjibulla makes the case for Canada's re-engaging with India amidst global turbulence, including China's new world order ambitions and the Trump's 'Liberation Day' tariffs. She posits that Canada and India should seek a new "path forward... one that not only supports their national interests, but also contributes to the stability and prosperity of the Indo-Pacific."

"The next phase of re-engagement should be focused and practical. Reviving stalled trade talks... would send a strong signal" towards deeper collaboration. 

While Nadjibulla notes this will not be a quick or easy process given the "serious concerns about foreign interference and national security" from both parties, "the rewards—in terms of economic resilience, security co-operation, and long-term diversification—are well worth the effort."

The CBC News Network Weekend panel takes a look at China's security summit and new alliances.

CBC News, September 7, 2025

Featuring: Vice-President Research & Strategy, APF Canada, Vina Nadjibulla

Excerpt: Vina Nadjibulla joined CBC'S Network Weekend panel alongside other China policy scholars to discuss the recent Beijing military parade. 

She notes that China is taking advantage of the gaps in global partnerships created by the Trump Administration to position itself as diplomatically "capable" and with robust "military power[s]." 

"For those of us in Canada and Europe... that have come to rely on a world largely shaped by the United States and liberal democracies" she says this global shift towards Chinese leadership "is not good news."

"What we are seeing is a shift to realpolitik, might makes right, the idea that big powers get to have more say and do things like invade their neighbours.... but of course China doesn't use that language... [China] has a rhetoric that is quite different from it's actions and that's why we have to be strategic and smart on how we interpret these things and react to them."

China's Xi meets North Korea's Kim Jong Un after military show of force | East Asia Tonight (Sep 4)

CNA, September 4, 2025

Featuring: Senior Research Scholar, Northeast Asia, Sun Ryung Park

Excerpt: Speaking with CNA about the future leadership of North Korea, Sun points out that the public appearances of Kim Jong Un's daughter , Ju Ae, are  "carefully choreographed."

She notes that Ju Ae's public debut at a nuclear missile launch inherently "ties her to country's nuclear program" and signals Kim Jong Un's legacy in national leadership through his successor, regardless of gender. 

Despite these signals, Ju Ae's potential leadership doesn't necessitate a shifting role for women in North Korean society. North Korea is still one of the "most patriarchal societies in the world and certainly one of the most isolated in the world." 

China's lavish military parade could signal an attempted shift in world order

CBC News, September 4, 2025

Featuring: Vice-President Research & Strategy, APF Canada, Vina Nadjibulla

Excerpt: China's military parade on Wednesday, September 3, 2025 displays a heavily choreographed set of events that Nadjibulla says are meant to position China at the centre of an "alternative world order" that counters the U.S.

"I think China is now again taking advantage of the fact that the U.S. is destroying its own relationships with its allies.

"...The message was China is not afraid of violence, that China is independent, and basically the choice is for the U.S. to choose war or peace — but China is prepared to deal with either eventuality because it's strong."

India, Canada continue to rebuild ties after political reset

Hindustan Times, September 2, 2025

Featuring: Vice-President Research & Strategy, APF Canada, Vina Nadjibulla

Excerpt: Nadjibulla says the re-appointment of high commissioners between Canada and India is a "welcome development [and] a significant step towards rebuilding mutual trust." The UN General Assembly in September, 2025 she says, will be another opportunity to see "potential maker[s]" of co-operation and relationship building between the two countries. 

The news organization also notes that APF Canada continues to work towards strengthening dialogue between Canada and India through track 1.5 dialogues in collaboration with the Anata Aspen Center in New Dehli. Learn more here.