Canada pauses trade treaty talks with India ahead of G20 summit

The Canadian Government in a surprise move, has said that it has placed a pause on the ongoing negotiations towards an Early Progress Trade Agreement or EPTA, just three months after the two nations said they aimed to seal an initial agreement this year.

No reason has been given by Canada for the pause, which was first reported by the agency Canadian Press.

India’s High Commissioner to Ottawa Sanjay Kumar Verma said the pause was “requested by the Canadian side”, reports the Hindustan Times. “Some stocktaking seems underway. We will await request to ‘unpause’,” he added.

Negotiations between Canada and India have been going on and off since 2010 about a comprehensive economic partnership agreement. The talks were formally relaunched last year.

"Trade negotiations are long, complex processes. And we've paused to take stock of where we are," a government official told reporters even as Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is scheduled to visit New Delhi for the G20 leaders’ summit on September 9 and 10.

India and Canada said in May they aimed to seal an initial agreement this year to increase trade and expand investment while setting out a mechanism to deal with disputes.

Last month, a top Indian trade official said New Delhi planned to hold bilateral free trade talks with Canada and other nations on the sidelines of a G20 summit next week.

Bilateral trade in goods between the two countries reached about CA$11.9 billion in 2022, a 56 per cent growth from 2021. Service trade reached CA$8.9 billion in 2022.

There is optimism that the “pause” will be short and talks will commence again once Ng visits India in October, as she leads a Team Canada trade delegation.

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