India and Canada have begun discussions to revive negotiations on a proposed free trade agreement, marking a significant step toward repairing ties that have been strained in recent years.
Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal and Canadian Minister of Export Promotion, International Trade and Economic Development Maninder Sidhu met on Wednesday to discuss the contours, objectives, and modalities for launching negotiations on the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement.
Both countries recently agreed to resume talks on the pact with the goal of boosting bilateral trade to 50 billion dollars by 2030.
Goyal said in a social media post that the ministers held productive discussions and undertook initial scoping on the overall approach and macro objectives for the trade agreement. He also said he would lead a high-level trade and investment delegation to Canada next year.
Canada paused negotiations in 2023 after bilateral relations deteriorated sharply following then Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s allegations of a possible Indian link to the killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar. Before the pause, both sides had already held more than half a dozen rounds of talks on the proposed agreement.
CEPA is a type of free trade agreement under which participating countries significantly reduce or eliminate customs duties on a large number of traded goods. It also helps ease the movement of skilled professionals and promotes investment flows.
Trade between the two nations has shown mixed trends. India’s exports to Canada rose 9.8 per cent to 4.22 billion dollars in 2024 to 2025 from 3.84 billion dollars in 2023 to 2024. Imports from Canada declined 2.33 per cent to 4.44 billion dollars from 4.55 billion dollars during the same period. Bilateral trade in goods and services stood at 18.38 billion dollars in 2023.
The renewed engagement follows Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s discussions with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney on the sidelines of the G7 summit held in Kananaskis, Canada, in June.
Canada is home to around 2.9 million people of Indian origin and more than 427,000 Indian students.