India and Canada push for year-end free trade deal

India and Canada signalled a rapid reset in bilateral ties, aiming to conclude a free trade agreement by year-end. Leaders from both nations highlighted expanding cooperation in trade, investment, energy, technology, agriculture and education to strengthen economic relations and diversify exports

Washington/Ottawa: 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”.

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“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 Monday (local time) 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 what Canadian officials described as 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”.

Goyal described the relationship as “being reset very, very rapidly”.

“It has set in motion the pathway to a complete overhaul of this relationship, setting new agendas, new goals in mission mode,” he said.

The minister said the two Prime Ministers had tasked negotiators with completing “the free trade agreement with a comprehensive outlook before the end of this year or earlier”.

He added that both countries aimed to sharply raise bilateral trade by 2030.

“We feel empowered to be able to make rapid progress to deliver results not only to businesses, but to the people of both countries,” Goyal said.

During his visit, Goyal also met Canadian Foreign Minister Anita Anand, Agriculture Minister Heath MacDonald and Sidhu to discuss trade, food security, agri-tech, sustainability, technology and investment cooperation.

Anand said she discussed “strengthening and expanding our trade relationship to create new opportunities for businesses, workers, and investors in both our countries”.

Sidhu said India was “one of the world’s fastest-growing major economies” and strengthening ties with New Delhi was central to delivering economic results for Canadians.