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Newsmakers of the Week JUNE 19, 2026 | The Indian Eye 34

NEWSMAKERS OF THE WEEK

Selected stories about Indian diaspora from our website www.theindianeye.com

ANITA ANAND VINAY MOHAN KWATRA

Canadian FM expresses grief Indian Envoy meets US corporate

over Fire tragedy and tech leaders

ashington, DC: India’s Ambassador to the US, Vinay Mohan Kwa-
ttawa: Canadian Foreign Minister Anita Anand expressed grief after tra, held a series of high-level engagements with top corporate and
the Malviya Nagar fire tragedy, which resulted in the death of 21 peo- Wtechnology leaders to discuss investment expansion, supply chain re-
Ople, including several foreign nationals. silience, and emerging technologies.
In a post on X, Anand expressed her condolences and said that she has Detailing the meetings in separate posts on social media platform X, the
been in touch with External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar to convey Canada’s Indian envoy highlighted New Delhi’s growing economic and technological
solidarity. partnership with the US.
“Deeply saddened by the tragic fire that claimed at least 21 lives and in- Ambassador Kwatra met with Chris Nicholas, the President and CEO of
jured many others in Malviya Nagar, New Delhi. Canada stands with India retail giant Walmart, to deliberate on the company’s deepening footprint in
during this devastating time, and I extend my deepest condolences to the fam- the Indian market.
ilies and loved ones of those affected. I have been in touch with my counter- Reviewing the meeting, the ambassador posted on X that he had a “pro-
part, @DrSJaishankar, to convey Canada’s solidarity”, Anand said. ductive conversation with Chris Nicholas, President and CEO of @Walmart,
The fire tragedy claimed multiple lives, with casualties reported among on their investments in India, long-term growth plans and commitment to
people present on the third floor and in the basement of the building. Accord- building resilient supply chains.”
ing to sources, a majority of the deaths were caused by suffocation. In another high-profile meeting geared towards futuristic tech collabo-
ration, the Indian diplomat engaged with Ylli Bajraktari, the President and
As the investigation intensifies, Delhi Police has formed a total of CEO of the Special Competitive Studies Project (SCSP).
The interaction took place ahead of Bajraktari’s upcoming visit to New
10 teams, including five dedicated to tracing and apprehending Delhi for the prestigious India-US Forum, where bilateral tech ties are ex-
absconding hotel manager Jai Mishra, while the remaining teams pected to be a major focus.
Sharing insights from their discussion on X, Ambassador Kwatra not-
are handling various aspects of the probe. ed that he had an “Insightful conversation with @Ylli_Bajraktari, President
& CEO of @scsp_ai, ahead of his upcoming visit to New Delhi for the In-
Out of the 12 foreign nationals who died in the Malviya Nagar fire inci- dia-U.S. Forum. Exchanged perspectives on the trajectory of advanced tech-
dent, the Delhi Police has identified nine of them. nologies including Quantum, and the future of AI, including Physical AI and
The Delhi Police has sent the list of all these foreign nationals to the Min- the expanding India-USA cooperation in tech space.”
istry of External Affairs (MEA) to facilitate the repatriation of their bodies Alongside these critical dialogues on economic and technological inte-
back to their respective countries. gration, Ambassador Kwatra simultaneously reinforced the core security ar-
The identification of the foreign nationals was conducted on the basis of chitecture of the bilateral alliance by holding a high-level meeting with senior
passports recovered from the spot. US counter-terrorism official Sebastian Gorka to deliberate on the evolving
The police have completed the DNA profiling of all the foreign nationals. threats posed by global terrorism.
The DNA profiling was carried out after obtaining permission from the Detailing the encounter on Sunday in a separate post on social media
embassies of the respective countries. platform X, the Indian diplomat highlighted how these comprehensive de-
The post-mortem examination of the bodies of all the foreign nationals fence discussions mirror the progressive trajectory of strategic and security
was also conducted after receiving permission from their embassies. ties between New Delhi and Washington. Continued on next page... >>

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