India, Canada Resume Trade Talks With Year-End Deal In Sight

NEW DELHI – India and Canada on September 14 began their fourth round of negotiations here for the proposed Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA), with the two countries aiming to complete the negotiations by the end of this year, a senior official said.

The five-day talks will cover trade in goods and services, rules of origin and technical barriers to trade. The round follows the third round, which was held in Ottawa in July.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney set a year-end target for completing negotiations on the CEPA during their meeting in New Delhi in March. The two leaders also agreed to deepen bilateral cooperation in the energy and critical minerals sectors.

They expressed confidence that a comprehensive trade framework would serve as a durable economic anchor for the partnership and support their shared goal of expanding bilateral trade to Canadian $70 billion (Rs 4.65 lakh crore) by 2030, according to a joint statement issued after their summit.

India-Canada bilateral trade in goods stood at $8.66 billion in 2024-25, while India’s exports to Canada reached $4.22 billion.

Major Indian exports to Canada include pharmaceutical products, machinery parts 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.

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

India’s IT sector is the main contributor to the country’s services exports to Canada. (IANS)