TORONTO — 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 AtkinsRéalis — 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.