New York: Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney on Tuesday (September 22, local time) said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to visit Canada in December as the two countries look to lock in the trade deal by the end of this year.
Earlier on September 21, Union Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal said that India and Canada have agreed to fast-track negotiations for a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA), with the next round of talks scheduled to begin on October 5. The minister said the fifth round would begin on October 5 and noted that the pace of the negotiations was increasing. Let’s see, the next 90 days should be a very defining period in the Canada-India relationship,” the minister said.
Carney said the two countries are looking to reach a trade deal by the end of the year and described the relation with India as being ‘exceptionally important’. Goyal said he had concluded the fourth round of negotiations for the proposed trade agreement with his Canadian counterpart, Minister of International Trade Maninder Sidhu, in Mumbai last week. “Fifth of October. So you can see that as the progress is taking shape, the speed of negotiations with Canada is also improving.
The government also stepped up its engagement with Canada during the G20 summit last year as part of its effort to reduce economic reliance on the increasingly volatile US administration.
Both governments committed to seeking conclusion of the negotiations by the end of 2026.Bilateral trade between India and Canada stood at around USD 8 billion in FY 2025-26, with India exporting goods worth USD 4.67 billion and importing USD 3.28 billion, according to the Commerce Ministry.
