- India and Canada held talks to boost trade, investment, and sectoral collaborations
- The dialogue was co-chaired by India's Piyush Goyal and Canada's Maninder Sidhu
- Discussions covered trade policies, market access, and regulatory alignment efforts
India and Canada on Thursday held discussions on ways to promote bilateral trade and investments besides advancing collaborations in areas, including supply chain resilience, and health sectors.
The issues were discussed during the India-Canada Ministerial Dialogue on Trade and Investment (MDTI) meeting, which was co-chaired by Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal, and Canada's Minister of Export Promotion, International Trade and Economic Development Maninder Sidhu.
The ministers reaffirmed their commitment to fostering an open, transparent, and predictable business environment that supports sustainable growth, the commerce ministry said.
'Discussions focused on strengthening bilateral economic ties and advancing sectoral collaboration across priority domains, including nutritional security, supply chain resilience, health sector cooperation, and investment facilitation,' it said.
They also reviewed recent trade policy developments, covering trade in goods and services, and exchanged views to enhance market access, promote regulatory alignment, and support long-term economic resilience.
Bilateral trade in goods and services between India and Canada stood at $18.38 billion in 2023. There are about 2.9 million Indian diaspora and over 427,000 Indian students in Canada. The two ministers also held talks in October this year. The discussions are important as in 2023, Canada had paused negotiations for a free trade agreement with India.
The India-Canada relations hit rock bottom following then Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's allegations in 2023 of a potential Indian link to the killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar. India had dismissed Trudeau's accusation as 'absurd'. In March 2022, the two countries had re-launched negotiations for an interim agreement, officially dubbed as Early Progress Trade Agreement (EPTA). Over half a dozen rounds of talks have been held on the trade pact so far.
Normally in a trade agreement, two countries significantly reduce or eliminate customs duties on the maximum number of goods traded between them. They also liberalise norms for promoting trade in services and attract investments.
India's exports to Canada rose 9.8% to $4.22 billion in 2024-25 from $3.84 billion in 2023-24. Imports, however, dipped 2.33% to $4.44 billion in the last fiscal year from $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 margins of the G7 summit at Canada's Kananaskis in June.
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