Canada eyes recent begin in commerce talks with India, says Canada’s minister Sidhu

Canada and India are working to rebuild commerce ties and discover new areas of cooperation after a two-year chill, with Ottawa eager to restart commerce negotiations beneath “a brand new course of”, Canadian Commerce Minister Maninder Sidhu stated on Thursday. Sidhu, on a three-day go to to India, met Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal for what he described as a really productive ministerial dialogue targeted on sectors together with vital minerals, clear vitality, agriculture and synthetic intelligence.

“The assembly went rather well. We targeted on areas of alternative – aerospace, AI, vital minerals, vitality, agriculture – and what extra we will do collectively,” Sidhu advised Reuters in an interview after the assembly.

Sidhu's go to marks a serious high-level commerce engagement since Canada paused negotiations for a broad commerce pact in 2023, after relations soured when Ottawa accused New Delhi of involvement within the killing of a Canadian Sikh separatist.
Sidhu stated the 2 sides have been now “in early discussions to restart the method”, referring to international financial shifts together with the imposition of excessive tariffs by the USA on items from each international locations.Additionally learn: EAM Jaishankar meets Canadian FM Anand, discusses progress beneath India-Canada Roadmap 2025

He stated the federal government of Canada's new Prime Minister Mark Carney introduced “a brand new focus, new vitality and new mandate”, and was eager to boost cooperation with India to draw funding within the vitality and significant minerals sectors.

“Canada has each component wanted to construct an electrical battery,” Sidhu stated, including that Ottawa welcomed funding from India in mining vital minerals and infrastructure initiatives.

Relations between the countries began to improve following Prime Minister Narendra Modi's meeting with Carney on the sidelines of the G7 summit in June.India is a priority market for Canada, with two-way goods and services trade reaching about $31 billion in 2024, largely in Canada's favour due to its $16 billion services exports.

India is Canada's biggest source of immigrants, with nearly 393,000 Indian students in 2024 and more than 1.8 million Canadians of Indian origin.Also read: Canada stands with India after Delhi blasts, says foreign minister Anita Anand at G7 meet

Sidhu met executives from Indian conglomerates, together with Tata, and stated they wished to do extra in Canada.

He additionally stated Goyal had dedicated to visiting Canada quickly with a commerce and funding delegation.