- India and Canada aim to finalize a bilateral trade pact targeting $70 billion by 2030
- Finance ministers highlighted potential for increased Canadian investment and pension fund roles
- Discussions included cooperation in energy, food security, and expanding financial market access
India and Canada are looking to deepen their economic ties, with Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman saying negotiations for a bilateral trade pact could conclude soon as both sides eye a $70 billion trade target by 2030.
Speaking at a joint press briefing in Toronto with Canadian Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne, Sitharaman said there is significant potential for Canadian investment in India and called for greater participation by Canadian institutional investors.
Champagne said the $70 billion bilateral trade target by 2030 is "totally achievable", while also pointing to the potential for Canadian pension funds to become bigger investors in India.
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The two ministers also discussed opportunities for cooperation in energy and food security, with Champagne saying India and Canada could become "partners of choice" in both areas.
Separately, Sitharaman said India is creating new gateways for international capital and highlighted GIFT City, India's International Financial Services Centre, as an emerging platform for global financial institutions. She said its regulatory and tax framework is designed to facilitate cross-border financial activity.
She also pointed to the opening up of sectors including insurance, asset management and pensions to foreign investment, along with the growing depth of India's capital markets.
For Canadian institutional investors, Sitharaman said these developments could provide opportunities to use India as a base for wider regional and global financial activity.
The finance minister also discussed cross-border payments with Canada and highlighted India's Unified Payments Interface. She said UPI, the world's largest real-time payments system by transaction volume, has helped expand financial inclusion and drive innovation in digital payments.
Sitharaman said there is considerable scope for collaboration between Indian and Canadian banks, fintech companies and regulators in developing the next generation of digital financial infrastructure.
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She further identified semiconductors, magnets and rare earths as areas with significant potential for Canadian investment. India, she said, can offer trusted and cost-effective supply-chain alternatives to global markets.
The latest push comes as New Delhi and Ottawa work to reset bilateral ties. Sitharaman noted that Prime Ministers Narendra Modi and Mark Carney had agreed to reset India-Canada relations on the sidelines of the G7 Summit in June 2025, with the process gaining further momentum during Carney's subsequent visit to India.
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