Canada's Carney Defends Saudi Visit    07/10 06:21

   

   TORONTO (AP) -- Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney defended his trip to 
Saudi Arabia despite its poor human rights record and said on Thursday, during 
his visit to the kingdom that publicly condemning countries from afar is "an 
ineffective strategy."

   During the visit -- the first by a Canadian leader to Saudi Arabia in 26 
years -- Carney met with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the kingdom's 
de facto ruler.

   Carney has been seeking to expand his country's economic ties beyond its 
heavy reliance on the United States, and diversify trade and attract 
investments against the backdrop of U.S. President Donald Trump's tariffs and 
threats to the U.S.-Mexico-Canada trade agreement.

   "Lecturing countries from afar is an ineffective strategy," Carney told 
reporters in the Saudi city of Jeddah. "It's satisfying, but it's ineffective."

   He stressed that engagement "doesn't mean that we agree with everything that 
a country is doing."

   Saudi Arabia's human rights record drew global scrutiny after the 2018 
killing of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi. A U.S. intelligence 
assessment concluded Prince Mohammed likely approved the operation, which Saudi 
Arabia denies.

   In Jeddah, Carney also said that the world is becoming more dangerous and 
divided and that Canada must expand its partnerships elsewhere, beyond the 
U.S., its largest trading partner.

   The visit contrasts with the approach by former Canadian Prime Minister 
Justin Trudeau, whose government publicly criticized Saudi Arabia's human 
rights record in 2018, triggering a diplomatic rift that lasted five years.

   The criticism prompted Riyadh to expel Canada's ambassador, suspend new 
trade and investment and recall thousands of Saudi students. The countries 
restored full diplomatic relations in 2023.

   Carney said he cares deeply about human rights and Canadian consular cases, 
citing a case he said he raised with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan 
during a meeting on the sidelines of the NATO summit in Ankara, Turkey's 
capital this week.

   "Because I was with the president, it was addressed favorably. If I sat in 
Ottawa ... I wouldn't have had that conversation. I wouldn't have had that 
impact. That's a small example," Carney said.

   Canada's Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand, who accompanied Carney to 
Saudi Arabia, said she also raised human rights and consular cases during her 
meetings.

   For its part, Saudi Arabia has sought to attract foreign investment as 
Prince Mohammed pursues an ambitious plan to diversify the kingdom's economy 
beyond oil

   Saudi Investment Minister Fahad Al-Saif called Canada "a trusted long-term 
partner" and said Saudi investors offer "patient capital."

   Also Thursday, Carney attended a ceremony for 13 commercial agreements and 
memorandums of understanding between Canadian and Saudi companies and 
institutions, including engineering firms Hatch and AtkinsRalis -- agreements 
the prime minister's office said are worth more than 1 billion Canadian dollars 
($710 million).

   Nelson Wiseman, a professor emeritus at the University of Toronto, 
highlighted the practical side of Carney's policies.

   "Carney says he is taking the world as it is," Wiseman said. "It doesn't 
mean looking beyond human rights; it means being realistic about what preaching 
about it to authoritarian leaders can accomplish."

   Carney flies back to Canada on Friday.