Canada’s Prime Minister Mark Carney has appointed Anita Anand to the powerful post of Foreign Minister in his new cabinet. He also appointed Maninder Sidhu as the international trade minister, and two others of Indian descent as secretaries of state, the equivalent of ministers of state. One of Anand’s missions will be to pilot the reset of the almost ruptured ties with India that Carney signalled, while managing the delicate relations with President Donald Trump’s America.
Announcing the new cabinet of 28 ministers, Carney instructed them to “bring new ideas, a clear focus and decisive actions to their work”.

Ruby Sahota, who was the minister of democratic institutions, has been downgraded to a secretary of state and put in charge of combating crime. Randeep Sarai is another of the ten Secretaries of State and will deal with international development. Carney, who inherited former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s cabinet, now has a chance to put his mark after having led the Liberal Party to victory, beating the odds in last month’s election. He cut the number of ministers from 39 in Trudeau’s cabinet to 28.