New Delhi, Sep 14 — India and Canada on Monday began their fourth round of talks here for the proposed Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) as the two countries aim to seal the deal by the end of this year, a senior official said.
The issues that would figure in the five-day talks include trade in goods, services, rules of origin, and technical trade barriers. The round follows the third round, which was held in Ottawa in July.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Canadian PM Mark Carney set a year-end target to complete the negotiations for the CEPA between the two countries and agreed to deepen bilateral collaboration in the energy and critical mineral sectors during their meeting in New Delhi in March this year.
The leaders expressed confidence that a comprehensive trade framework would serve as a durable economic anchor for the partnership and support the shared aspiration of expanding bilateral trade to (Canadian) $70 billion (Rs 4.65 lakh crore) by 2030,” according to a joint statement issued after the summit between the two leaders.
India-Canada bilateral trade in goods stood at $8.66 billion in 2024-25, while India’s exports to the country touched $4.22 billion.
Major items of India’s exports to Canada include pharmaceutical products, machinery parts and mechanical appliances, iron & steel articles, electronic goods, organic chemicals, jewellery, gems & precious stones, garments and textiles, seafood, engineering goods and auto parts. India’s major imports from Canada include pulses, fertilisers, mineral fuels, wood pulp, gems & precious stones, aircraft parts, machinery parts, and iron & aluminium scrap.
India’s IT sector is the main contributor to services exports to Canada.
PM Carney’s visit to India set the tone for a marked improvement in diplomatic ties between the two countries that had hit rock bottom during his predecessor Justin Trudeau's tenure as Canada’s Prime Minister. The Trudeau government was seen as encouraging Sikh extremists to pursue an anti-India agenda in Canada.