Blitz Bureau
NEW DELHI: India and Canada have signalled a rapid reset in bilateral ties, with leaders from both countries expressing optimism about concluding a long-pending free trade agreement by the end of this year while sharply expanding trade, investment and business cooperation. Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said negotiations on a free trade agreement with India would be “a game changer for Canadian workers and businesses”.
“We’re negotiating a free trade deal with India. This will be a game changer for Canadian workers and businesses — unlocking a massive new market,” Carney wrote on social media on June 25 after meeting Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal in Ottawa. Carney said both sides reviewed progress in negotiations and explored opportunities in “energy, agri-food, tech, and education”.
Goyal, who is leading the largest-ever Indian business delegation to Canada, said he conveyed “warm greetings” from Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Carney and recalled the Canadian leader’s recent visit to India. “His recent visit to India has imparted fresh momentum and renewed confidence to the India-Canada partnership,” Goyal said.
He said both countries held “forward-looking discussions on further deepening bilateral cooperation” and expressed optimism over an early conclusion of the India-Canada Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA).
In a joint media address in Ottawa, Canada’s International Trade Minister Maninder Sidhu said both countries were moving quickly to conclude the agreement. “We promised Canadians that we’d be moving fast,” Sidhu said, adding that two rounds of negotiations had already been completed. He said Canada wanted to diversify trade ties and unlock “roughly $300 billion of additional non-US exports”
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Goyal described the relationship as “being reset very, very rapidly”.
