Canada’s newly appointed Foreign Minister, Indira Anita Anand, has charted a swift and impactful path in Canadian politics. An academic-turned-politician, Anand entered Parliament in 2019 and quickly advanced through key ministries including procurement, defence, internal trade, transport, and industry before assuming the foreign affairs portfolio.

Earlier this year, when former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced his exit, Anand too declared her intention to return to academia. However, following the Labour Party’s resurgence under Prime Minister Mark Carney, she decided to stay on, contest re-election, and was persuaded to continue in government.

Anand is the first Hindu woman elected to Canada’s Parliament and the first Hindu minister, taking her oath on the Bhagavad Gita. Her father was from Tamil Nadu and her mother from Punjab, both doctors who immigrated to Canada.

During her tenure as procurement minister, she played a crucial role during the COVID-19 pandemic, securing vaccines and medical equipment, including some from India. This visibility led to her appointment as defence minister, where she oversaw Canada’s support for Ukraine during the Russian invasion. In 2023, she was appointed President of the Treasury Board, managing $450 billion in federal spending and 300,000 public servants.

A respected scholar in business and finance law, Anand previously served as a tenured professor at the University of Toronto and lectured at Yale.