India, Canada discuss contours, modalities to launch trade pact talks

New Delhi: Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal and his Canadian counterpart Maninder Sidhu on Wednesday held discussions on the contours, objectives and modalities for launching negotiations on a proposed free trade agreement.

The two sides have recently agreed to resume negotiations for the pact, officially known as Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA), with an aim to increase the two-way trade to USD 50 billion by 2030 "Held a productive discussion with Minister Sidhu to advance the trade and commercial engagement with Canada. We undertook initial scoping and broad discussions on the overall approach, contours, macro objectives and modalities as part of preparations for the launch of CEPA negotiations," Goyal has said in a social media post.

He also agreed to lead a high-level trade and investment delegation to Canada next year.

In 2023, Canada paused negotiations for the agreement with India after the bilateral relations hit rock bottom following then Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's allegations of a potential Indian link to the killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar.

CEPA is a kind of free trade agreement in which two countries either significantly reduce or eliminate customs duties on the maximum number of goods traded between them. They also ease norms for the movement of skilled professionals and attract investments.

Earlier they had held over half a dozen rounds of talks on the proposed pact.

India's exports to Canada rose 9.8 per cent to USD 4.22 billion in 2024-25 from USD 3.84 billion in 2023-24.

Imports, however, declined 2.33 per cent to USD 4.44 billion in the last fiscal from USD 4.55 billion in 2023-24.

The renewed vibrancy in ties between the two countries followed Prime Minister Narendra Modi's talks with his Canadian counterpart Mark Carney on the sidelines of the G7 summit at Canada's Kananaskis in June.

Bilateral trade in goods and services between India and Canada stood at USD 18.38 billion in 2023.

There are about 2.9 million Indian diaspora and over 4,27,000 Indian students in Canada.