India-Canada Trade Pact Talks Gain New Momentum at G20

India‑Canada trade negotiations regained momentum on Sunday when Prime Ministers Narendra Modi and Mark Carney met on a side event at the G20 Summit and decided to restore a strained partnership.

The leaders claimed that the meeting was productive and both of them supported high-ambition Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement which is aimed at doubling bilateral trade to USD 50 billion by 2030.

The push is after stalled negotiations of 2023, when Canada alleged an Indian connection to the murder of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, which India rejected as ridiculous.

The two nations are also giving a clear indication of coming back to business today. Trade has not been on the verge of collapse, and trade has surged USD 30 billion across the border in 2024, and Canadian pension funds are expanding their exposure to Indian enterprises.

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According to Carney, the industry in Canada is key to getting a better access to one of the largest and fastest-growing economies in the world, and that the key components of this include stable regulations, enhanced safeguards and effective dispute-resolution mechanisms.

In addition to trade, the leaders also promised to open new areas of cooperation in the defence, space, technology, critical minerals, and clean energy. They have renewed civil nuclear relationships established long ago and they are discussing long-term nuclear uranium supply. As India is already the seventh-largest goods and services trading partner of Canada, governments on both ends anticipate prospects in the sector-wide in case of a smooth sailing in the CEPA negotiations.

Carney was invited to visit India soon by Modi, and the revitalized momentum was termed as a turning point. As new ambassadors come into play and the pace of ministerial visits increase, up until 2024, both countries seem to be focused on the goal of putting the relationship back on a stable and growth-oriented path, a direction that the industry of both countries has been long overdue.