India, Canada Push To Finalize Trade Pact By Year-End

NEW DELHI- India and Canada began the second round of negotiations for a bilateral free trade agreement in New Delhi on May 4, with both sides aiming to conclude the pact by the end of the year.

The five-day talks are being held ahead of Union Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal’s scheduled visit to Canada later this month, as the two countries seek to accelerate economic engagement and raise bilateral trade to $50 billion by 2030.

“The attempt is to fast-track talks so that the agreement can be concluded by the year-end as decided by the Prime Ministers of the two countries earlier this year,” a senior official said.

The proposed pact, officially called the India-Canada Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA), saw its first round of negotiations held in March following Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney’s meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi.

Prime Minister Carney’s visit to India marked an improvement in diplomatic ties between the two countries, which had deteriorated during the tenure of former Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

During their March meeting in New Delhi, Prime Minister Modi and Prime Minister Carney set a year-end target for concluding CEPA negotiations and agreed to deepen bilateral cooperation in the energy and critical minerals sectors. “The leaders expressed confidence that a comprehensive trade framework would serve as a durable economic anchor for the partnership and support the shared aspiration of expanding bilateral trade to CAD 70 billion/Rs 4.65 lakh crore by 2030,” according to a joint statement issued after the summit.

India-Canada bilateral trade in goods stood at $8.66 billion in 2024-25, with India’s exports to Canada at $4.22 billion. Key Indian exports to Canada include pharmaceutical products, machinery and mechanical appliances, iron and steel articles, electronic goods, organic chemicals, jewelry, gems and precious stones, garments and textiles, seafood, engineering goods, and auto parts.

Major imports from Canada include pulses, fertilizers, mineral fuels, wood pulp, gems and precious stones, aircraft parts, machinery, and iron and aluminum scrap.

India’s IT sector remains a significant contributor to services exports to Canada. (IANS)